IRAQ: Bomb explodes in southern Baghdad wounding two Iraqi policemen in the latest attack in a wave of sectarian violence gripping Iraq

Record ID: 872558

  • Title: IRAQ: Bomb explodes in southern Baghdad wounding two Iraqi policemen in the latest attack in a wave of sectarian violence gripping Iraq
  • Date: 22nd March 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALLAWI, A WOUNDED SHI'ITE PILGRIM SAYING: "We were in the visit (to Kerbala). We left the bus when reaching the pedestrian bridge near al-Kubaisi mosque and after that we were attacked by four cars, they opened fire at us. We called the Iraqi army to come and help but they did not come. Police came instead and some of them were killed in the attack. People in the mosque helped us. They killed all my colleagues."
  • Embargoed: 6th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • City:
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9EKE58Z1IQ6MK5XFCUA3J0XQM
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A roadside bomb went off near an Iraqi police convoy in south Baghdad on Wednesday (March 22, 2006), wounding two policemen.
    Police said the attack took place in al-Saidiya neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital.
    Earlier on Wednesday, gunmen opened fire on two vehicles carrying Shi'ite pilgrims in Baghdad, killing one and wounding scores, police said, the latest attack in a wave of sectarian violence gripping Iraq.
    Police also reported the discovery of six more bodies on the streets of Baghdad, all apparent victims of the communal bloodshed between majority Shi'ites and once-dominant Sunnis which some Iraqi officials fear could expand into open warfare.
    A police patrol rushing to the scene of one of the attacks was ambushed by gunmen who killed two policemen and wounded one, police sources said.
    "We were in the visit (to Kerbala). We left the bus when reaching the pedestrian bridge near al-Kubaisi mosque and after that we were attacked by four cars, they opened fire at us. We called the Iraqi army to come and help but they did not come. Police came instead and some of them were killed in the attack. People in the mosque helped us. They killed all my colleagues," said Allawi, a wounded man, speaking from his hospital bed.
    The Muslim pilgrims were returning from a major religious festival in the southern Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala which ended on Tuesday (March 21) without major incident and attracted more than 2.5 million people.
    A bus travelling on another road in the same area was hit by machinegun fire 2-1/2 hours later. Police said 21 people were wounded in that incident. It was not immediately clear whether the attacks were linked.
    Iraqi authorities, fearing the event could be a target for possible insurgent or sectarian attacks, had deployed 10,000 soldiers and police to protect the pilgrims massed in Kerbala.
    The surge in sectarian violence since the bombing of a major Shi'ite mosque exactly a month ago has almost overshadowed a Sunni Arab insurgency, but two bold attacks in the past two days were a reminder that Iraq's authorities face war on two fronts.
    Among those detained after the assault on the Madaen police station was a Syrian found with leaflets by the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, police said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register