IRAQ: Two more car bombs hit Baghdad

Record ID: 487194

  • Title: IRAQ: Two more car bombs hit Baghdad
  • Date: 24th January 2011
  • Summary: KADHIMIYA, BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JANUARY 23, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUS AT BLAST SCENE DAMAGES AND SHARDS OF GLASS INSIDE DAMAGED BUS MORE OF DAMAGE/ FOOD STUFF MORE OF DAMAGE INSIDE BUS SIGN READING "AL-KHADIMIYA HOSPITAL" WOUNDED MAN WITH BURNT FACE LYING ON HOSPITAL BED/ DEPUTY OF BAGHDAD GOVERNOR VISITING HOSPITAL AND CHECKING CONDITION OF WOUNDED (SOUNDBI
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq, Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA3E56EYT3TXH9HIMX6928HJTC3
  • Story Text: Baghdad is hit by a wave of car bombs, killing at least six and injuring dozens in a seemingly coordinated series of attacks during a major Shi'ite religious rite.
    Five car bombs went off around Baghdad on Sunday (January 23), killing at least six people and wounding 29, security sources said, in a seemingly coordinated series of attacks during a major Shi'ite religious rite.
    A car bomb in Baghdad's mainly Shi'ite northwestern district of Kadhimiya exploded near a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims, killing one and wounding seven, police and Interior Ministry sources said.
    Other car bombs detonated near a hotel in Baghdad's central Abu Nawas street, at two police patrols in the southern Ilaam district and in al-Mesbah in central Baghdad, killing three people, including a policeman, and wounding 18, the sources said.
    "The guard came and asked about the car and we said that we did not know. He asked us to give him a spanner and pliers. He opened the bonnet and played with the battery and then it exploded. We were away from him. You can see the damage. We have five people wounded and here another wounded," said Mohammed, a witness in Abu Newas who was also injured.
    Deputy of Baghdad Governor Kamel al-Saadi called upon the government to speed up the formation of the security ministry.
    "God willing, these attacks will not discourage us -- citizens, officials, visitors and security forces. At the same time, we call upon the government to settle the issue of the security ministry because we think that its delay will have a negative effect in the next stage, that is on stability and work and performance of security forces," he said.
    Elsewhere, a car bomb killed two people and wounded four in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. A police source said it was a roadside bomb.
    The office of Baghdad operations centre said in a statement the blasts were mainly targeting Shi'ite pilgrims making a religious trek to the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala for Arbain.
    The Arbain religious rite, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, a central figure of Shi'ite Islam, culminates on Tuesday (January 25).
    In all, the five blasts killed six people and injured 29.
    A wave of bomb attacks on Shi'ite pilgrims and police last week killed at least 110 people and wounded hundreds, posing a challenge to Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by the end of the year.
    More attacks in the coming days especially against Shi'ite pilgrims, are likely. Around 120,000 police and troops have been mobilised to protect Shi'ite pilgrims heading to Kerbala.
    Overall violence in Iraq has dropped sharply from the height of sectarian warfare in 2006-07, but Sunni Islamist insurgents still stage lethal attacks, as do groups linked to Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party and armed Shi'ite militia.
    Shi'ite pilgrims are often targeted by al Qaeda, which views Shi'ites as apostates.
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