IRAQ: Car bomb rips through south Iraq market killing thirty three people

Record ID: 357363

  • Title: IRAQ: Car bomb rips through south Iraq market killing thirty three people
  • Date: 11th June 2009
  • Summary: NASSIRIYA, IRAQ (JUNE 10, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERED AT BLAST SITE WRECKAGE OF CAR BOMB AT SITE DAMAGED SHOP MORE OF SITE ONLOOKERS AT SITE POLICE AND PEOPLE AT SITE DAMAGES CAUSED BY BLAST MEN COLLECTING THINGS FROM THE SITE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNDITINFIED EYEWITNESS SAYING : "A car bomb parked in the popular market , everybody makes his daily
  • Embargoed: 26th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA5ADVXHD4TXJ25WDHG5XYID51N
  • Story Text: A car bomb ripped through a crowded market in southern Iraq on Wednesday (June 10), killing at least 33 people, wounding 70 and prompting angry protests by residents about the failure to protect them, officials and witnesses said.
    Police swiftly locked down Al Bathaa, a Shi'ite Muslim town 30 km (20 miles) west of Nassariya that has seen little violence in recent years, while hospital officials appealed for assistance from neighbouring cities to help them cope with the wounded.
    The final death toll after the morning explosion was 33 dead and 70 wounded, said Colonel Aziz al-Atabi, media director for the Iraqi army's 10th division.
    The governor of Nassariya blamed the attack on al Qaeda.
    Television footage showed the burnt body parts and bloodstained rags mixed among vegetables strewn on the floor.
    One resident blamed the police for the attack.
    "A car bomb parked in the popular market , everybody makes his daily living here including grocer , fisher and normal citizen ,this is a popular market, the car bomb parked here so what is the role of the police ? Why did not they come here today? So this was a mistake by the police," said one man.
    The sectarian bloodshed and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has fallen sharply across Iraq since its peak in 2006/07, and the Shi'ite Muslim south has tended to be one of the quietest areas.
    But insurgents, including Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, who view Shi'ites as heretics, continue to carry out devastating car and suicide bomb attacks.
    Analysts say violence is likely to rise ahead of parliamentary elections next January, which will pit not just Shi'ite parties against once dominant Sunnis and minority Kurds, but also against rival Shi'ite groups.
    The withdrawal from Iraqi city centres by U.S. combat troops at the end of the month is another potential trigger point for an increase in attacks, Iraqi officials say.
    END
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