106 dead in coordinated Iraq attacks
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2012, Tuesday
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Bombings and shootings ripped across Iraq yesterday, killing at least 106 people in the deadliest day in more than two years. The coordinated attacks in 15 cities sent a chilling warning that al-Qaida is slowly resurging in the security vacuum created by a weak government in Baghdad and the departure of the United States military seven months ago.
Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq declared last week a new offensive aimed at sowing instability across the country.
In one brazen assault, three carloads of gunmen pulled up at an Iraqi army base early yesterday near the northeastern town of Udaim and opened fire, killing 13 soldiers before escaping, two police officials said.
The deadliest attack, however, took place just north of Baghdad in the town of Taji, where a double bombing killed at least 41 people. The blasts were timed to hit as police rushed to help victims from a series of five explosions minutes earlier.
More than 200 people also were wounded in the onslaught yesterday, Iraq's bloodiest day since a string of nationwide attacks on May 10, 2010, killed at least 119 people.
Iraq's Interior Ministry, which oversees the country's security, condemned the attacks, calling them a "flagrant violation" of the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It said security officials now planned to devise a new strategy to protect the public, but said complaints about the security gaps were "not useful."
Mohammed Munim, 35, was working at an Interior Ministry office that issues government ID cards to residents in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighborhood when a car exploded outside, killing 16 people.
"It was a thunderous explosion," Munim said from his bed in the emergency room at Sadr City hospital. He was hit by shrapnel in his neck and back. "The only thing I remember was the smoke and fire, which was everywhere."
Most of the cities and towns pounded by bombs are located in Sunni-dominated areas that nonetheless include sizable pockets of ethnically- and religiously-mixed populations.
Attacks struck the Baghdad suburb of Hussainiya, northeastern Diyala Province, five towns around Kirkuk and in the oil-rich city itself as well as the northern city of Mosul - a former al-Qaida stronghold, police said. Only one of yesterday's attacks occurred in undisputed Shiite territory: a bomb in the southern town of Diwaniyah that police said killed three people and wounded 25.
Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq declared last week a new offensive aimed at sowing instability across the country.
In one brazen assault, three carloads of gunmen pulled up at an Iraqi army base early yesterday near the northeastern town of Udaim and opened fire, killing 13 soldiers before escaping, two police officials said.
The deadliest attack, however, took place just north of Baghdad in the town of Taji, where a double bombing killed at least 41 people. The blasts were timed to hit as police rushed to help victims from a series of five explosions minutes earlier.
More than 200 people also were wounded in the onslaught yesterday, Iraq's bloodiest day since a string of nationwide attacks on May 10, 2010, killed at least 119 people.
Iraq's Interior Ministry, which oversees the country's security, condemned the attacks, calling them a "flagrant violation" of the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It said security officials now planned to devise a new strategy to protect the public, but said complaints about the security gaps were "not useful."
Mohammed Munim, 35, was working at an Interior Ministry office that issues government ID cards to residents in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighborhood when a car exploded outside, killing 16 people.
"It was a thunderous explosion," Munim said from his bed in the emergency room at Sadr City hospital. He was hit by shrapnel in his neck and back. "The only thing I remember was the smoke and fire, which was everywhere."
Most of the cities and towns pounded by bombs are located in Sunni-dominated areas that nonetheless include sizable pockets of ethnically- and religiously-mixed populations.
Attacks struck the Baghdad suburb of Hussainiya, northeastern Diyala Province, five towns around Kirkuk and in the oil-rich city itself as well as the northern city of Mosul - a former al-Qaida stronghold, police said. Only one of yesterday's attacks occurred in undisputed Shiite territory: a bomb in the southern town of Diwaniyah that police said killed three people and wounded 25.
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