16 die as Baghdad rocked by bombings
Source: Agencies |
May 23, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A RAPID-FIRE series of explosions in and around Baghdad killed 16 people yesterday, including 10 people who died when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of police officers, officials said.
In total, at least 10 bombs exploded as Iraqis were headed to work in a reminder of the dangers Iraq still faces despite a drop in violence since the height of the war.
At least nine of the dead were police officers, who often are targeted by insurgents hoping to weaken the security forces as an end-of-the-year deadline for American troops to go home swiftly approaches.
It was the third major attack this month in which security personnel were targeted and took the most losses. Just last week, 27 people were killed outside a police station in the northern city of Kirkuk, and earlier this month 20 police officers in the southern city of Hillah died when a suicide bomber plowed his vehicle into a police compound.
The worst single attack yesterday came near the city of Taji, which is 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. Police officers had gathered after a roadside bomb targeting a passing American military convoy blew up. When the police arrived on the scene, a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and blew himself up, police and hospital officials said.
Seven police and three civilians died and 19 people, including 15 policemen, were injured, the officials said.
Earlier in the capital, the beginning of the work week was shattered by a quick series of blasts in mostly Shiite neighborhoods. At about 7am a car bomb in a parking lot in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood exploded, injuring five people and damaging several nearby cars. Minutes later, a bomb hidden in a pile of garbage exploded, killing one person.
In total, at least 10 bombs exploded as Iraqis were headed to work in a reminder of the dangers Iraq still faces despite a drop in violence since the height of the war.
At least nine of the dead were police officers, who often are targeted by insurgents hoping to weaken the security forces as an end-of-the-year deadline for American troops to go home swiftly approaches.
It was the third major attack this month in which security personnel were targeted and took the most losses. Just last week, 27 people were killed outside a police station in the northern city of Kirkuk, and earlier this month 20 police officers in the southern city of Hillah died when a suicide bomber plowed his vehicle into a police compound.
The worst single attack yesterday came near the city of Taji, which is 20 kilometers north of Baghdad. Police officers had gathered after a roadside bomb targeting a passing American military convoy blew up. When the police arrived on the scene, a suicide bomber walked into the crowd and blew himself up, police and hospital officials said.
Seven police and three civilians died and 19 people, including 15 policemen, were injured, the officials said.
Earlier in the capital, the beginning of the work week was shattered by a quick series of blasts in mostly Shiite neighborhoods. At about 7am a car bomb in a parking lot in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood exploded, injuring five people and damaging several nearby cars. Minutes later, a bomb hidden in a pile of garbage exploded, killing one person.
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