63 killed in Baghdad bomb attacks
Source: Agencies |
December 23, 2011, Friday
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A SERIES of bombings hit Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 63 people in the first big assault attack on Iraq's capital since a sectarian crisis erupted within its government.
The apparently coordinated bombings were the first sign of a violent backlash against Shiite Muslim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's move to sideline two Sunni Muslim rivals, raising the risk of a relapse into the sort of sectarian bloodletting that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.
At least 18 people were killed when a suicide bomber driving an ambulance detonated the vehicle near a government office in Baghdad's Karrada district, sending up a dust cloud and scattering vehicle parts into a kindergarten, according to police and health officials.
"We heard the sound of a vehicle braking, followed by a huge explosion that blew out all our windows and doors and then smoke filled our apartment," said Maysoun Kamal, who lives in a Karrada compound.
In addition to at least 63 people killed, 194 were wounded in more than 10 explosions across Baghdad, security sources said. Most of the targeted districts were Shiite.
Iraqi officials quickly branded the attacks a political message sent during the current crisis.
"The timing of these crimes and the places where they were carried out confirm ... the political nature of the targets," Maliki said in a statement.
Two roadside bombs struck the southwestern Amil district, killing at least seven people and wounding 21 others, while a car bomb blew up in a Shiite neighbourhood in Doura in the south, killing three people and wounding six, police said.
More bombs ripped into the central Alawi area, Shaab and Shula in the north, all mainly Shiite areas, and a roadside bomb killed one and wounded five near the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya, police said.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, when suicide bombers and hit squads targeted Sunni and Shiite communities in attacks that killed thousands of people.
Iraq is still fighting a stubborn insurgency against Sunni Islamists tied to al-Qaida and Shiite militias, who the US says are backed by Iran.
"We live in complicated circumstances, a complicated political scene and there is a conspiracy on Iraq from within," Baghdad security spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said.
The last American troops left Iraq over the weekend, nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
Days after the withdrawal, Iraq's fragile power-sharing government is grappling with its worst turmoil since its formation a year ago.
This week, Maliki called for the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he organized assassinations and bombings, and asked parliament to fire his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlaq after he likened Maliki to Saddam.
The apparently coordinated bombings were the first sign of a violent backlash against Shiite Muslim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's move to sideline two Sunni Muslim rivals, raising the risk of a relapse into the sort of sectarian bloodletting that drove Iraq to the brink of civil war a few years ago.
At least 18 people were killed when a suicide bomber driving an ambulance detonated the vehicle near a government office in Baghdad's Karrada district, sending up a dust cloud and scattering vehicle parts into a kindergarten, according to police and health officials.
"We heard the sound of a vehicle braking, followed by a huge explosion that blew out all our windows and doors and then smoke filled our apartment," said Maysoun Kamal, who lives in a Karrada compound.
In addition to at least 63 people killed, 194 were wounded in more than 10 explosions across Baghdad, security sources said. Most of the targeted districts were Shiite.
Iraqi officials quickly branded the attacks a political message sent during the current crisis.
"The timing of these crimes and the places where they were carried out confirm ... the political nature of the targets," Maliki said in a statement.
Two roadside bombs struck the southwestern Amil district, killing at least seven people and wounding 21 others, while a car bomb blew up in a Shiite neighbourhood in Doura in the south, killing three people and wounding six, police said.
More bombs ripped into the central Alawi area, Shaab and Shula in the north, all mainly Shiite areas, and a roadside bomb killed one and wounded five near the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya, police said.
Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, when suicide bombers and hit squads targeted Sunni and Shiite communities in attacks that killed thousands of people.
Iraq is still fighting a stubborn insurgency against Sunni Islamists tied to al-Qaida and Shiite militias, who the US says are backed by Iran.
"We live in complicated circumstances, a complicated political scene and there is a conspiracy on Iraq from within," Baghdad security spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said.
The last American troops left Iraq over the weekend, nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
Days after the withdrawal, Iraq's fragile power-sharing government is grappling with its worst turmoil since its formation a year ago.
This week, Maliki called for the arrest of Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on charges he organized assassinations and bombings, and asked parliament to fire his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlaq after he likened Maliki to Saddam.
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