IRAQ: Four killed by roadside bomb in Baghdad as security cordon round shrine is tightened during religoius festival

Record ID: 357809

  • Title: IRAQ: Four killed by roadside bomb in Baghdad as security cordon round shrine is tightened during religoius festival
  • Date: 21st March 2006
  • Summary: SOLDIERS MANNING CHECKPOINT WATCHING TRAFFIC
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA4BVTNCC9U99UFZSR3C7H46CII
  • Story Text: A roadside bomb went off close to an Iraqi security forces convoy in central Baghdad on Monday (March 20), killing four and wounding three others, police said.
    The attack took place in the bal-Jadiriya neighbourhood of central Baghdad, which seriously wrecked security forces vehicle.
    "It is a safe road and we trust it so much because there are many checkpoints there. This time, a bomb exploded near our convoy in a checkpoint that belongs to a building or a hotel here. The bomb exploded near this checkpoint," said Hussein Ali, an Iraqi soldier.
    The Iraqi security forces sealed off the area immediately after the blast.
    Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces tightened security around the holy shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in western Baghdad to guard the pilgrims and shrine against suicide bombers or other attacks as Shi'ite pilgrims prepared to mark the climax of religious event.
    Heightened fears of violence that could unleash a new wave of sectarian bloodshed underlined Iraq's instability on the third anniversary of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein.
    Fresh violence would step up pressure on Iraq's divided Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders to form a unity government that could avert civil war. They are still struggling to reach agreement more than three months after elections.
    Wary that Sunni Arab insurgents have turned previous Shi'ite religious events into carnage, authorities deployed nearly 10,000 army and security forces and set up more checkpoints to net suicide bombers in the holy city of Kerbala.
    Suicide bombings and other attacks during similar crowds in Kerbala and Baghdad killed 171 people on March 2, 2004.
    Local officials say they expect up to two million people to attend the mourning ceremonies called Arbain on Monday evening in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Baghdad.
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