IRAQ: Death toll in Baghdad's double car bomb attacks rises to 155

Record ID: 487469

  • Title: IRAQ: Death toll in Baghdad's double car bomb attacks rises to 155
  • Date: 27th October 2009
  • Summary: SCATTERED DEBRIS AND DAMAGES AT BLAST SCENE/ CARS ON FIRE DAMAGED BUILDING OF JUSTICE MINISTRY/ FIRE-FIGHTERS AND SOLDIERS AT BLAST SCENE
  • Embargoed: 11th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVAPHODMEBJCC0TN0210IWVF549
  • Story Text: In one of Iraq's bloodiest attacks in years, the death toll from Sunday's two suicide bombs rises to 155 with more than 500 wounded after they struck two government buildings.
    Two suicide bombs tore through Baghdad on Sunday (October 25), killing 155 people, wounding more than 500 and leaving mangled bodies and cars on the streets in one of Iraq's deadliest days this year.
    Violence had fallen since U.S.-backed tribal sheikhs helped wrest control from al Qaeda and Washington sent extra troops.
    But attacks are still common in a nation trying to rebuild from years of conflict and prepare for a national election in January at the same time that U.S. forces start to draw down.
    The two blasts shredded buildings and smoke billowed from the area near the Tigris River. The first bomb targeted the Justice Ministry and the second, minutes later, was aimed at the nearby provincial government building, police said.
    A day after the deadliest blast (Monday 26) the Iraqi people blamed the government for not taking precautions measures to prevent these blasts despite the spread of dozens of military checkpoints in all over Baghdad areas.
    Iraqi journalist Mohammed Karim said that the Iraqi government should secure its borders.
    "In such a situation, the Iraqi government should shoulder its responsibility, it (the government) shouldn't blame the security forces. The security forces are performing their duty properly but the borders are opened, no appropriate measures have been taken in the borders and the political conflict has its role in this process," he said.
    For his part Mohammed said that the Iraqi government did not take a lesson from August blasts and work on providing security to its people.
    "Frankly speaking, we have expected such blasts before the elections, we blame the government which neglect this issue despite the fact that there are checkpoints in every 100 meter along the street that worked on searching us. So, how did these vehicles come?" Mohammed added.
    Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office said that the bombs were meant to sow chaos in Iraq similar to attacks on Aug. 19 against the finance and foreign ministries, and were aimed at stopping the parliamentary poll.
    Officials blamed unnamed neighbours for not stopping the attacks -- a reference to Iraqi complaints that Syria provides a safe haven for former Baathists while citizens of other Sunni Muslim states help fund the insurgency in Iraq. Iran, meanwhile, has been accused of funding and arming Shi'ite militia.
    Observers have warned of a rise in attacks ahead of the parliamentary election -- the second national vote since U.S. troops invaded in 2003 -- as forces in and around Iraq jockey for influence over the world's third largest oil reserves.
    Some lawmakers criticised the security forces for failing to stop the attack. Government officials blamed the bombings on al Qaeda or remnants of former leader Saddam Hussein's Baath party.
    The area near the provincial building was flooded and fire fighters pulled charred and torn corpses off the streets. Burnt cars piled up nearby. Workers on cranes combed the broken face of the Justice Ministry, pulling out bodies wrapped in blankets.
    U.S. forces provided some forensics teams and bomb experts.
    Police sources said the bombs were carried in vans driven by suicide bombers while others said a truck and car were used.
    The al-Mansour hotel, which houses the Chinese embassy and several foreign media groups, was also damaged.
    U.S. officials say the attacks are aimed at reigniting the sectarian conflict that gripped Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion that deposed Saddam, or at undermining confidence in Maliki before the parliamentary poll next year.
    Maliki is widely expected to run in the next election on improved security. The attacks were launched as his government tries to sign multi-billion dollar crude deals, expected to turn Iraq into the world's third largest oil producer.
    The bombings raise doubts about the Iraqi forces' ability to take over overall security from U.S. soldiers who pulled out of Iraqi city centres in June ahead of the complete withdrawal from the country by the end of 2011.
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