At least 118 dead after bombs detonate in central Baghdad
Source: Agencies |
December 9, 2009, Wednesday
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A SERIES of coordinated attacks struck Baghdad yesterday, including two suicide car bombers and another vehicle that blew up near government sites, causing carnage.
At least 118 were killed and hundreds wounded in the worst wave of violence in the Iraqi capital in more than a month, authorities said.
Five attacks, which included a suicide car bomb on a police patrol, showed the ability of insurgents to strike high-profile areas in the heart of Baghdad and marked the third time since August that government buildings were targeted with blasts that brought massive bloodshed.
The bombings reinforced concerns about shortcomings in Iraqi security and parliament held an emergency session with many lawmakers demanding answers.
Iraq's military spokesman, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, blamed the carnage on an alliance of al-Qaida in Iraq and members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party.
The United States military has sent some troops and forensic equipment to assist the Iraqis in the aftermath, said Army Master Sergeant Nicholas Conner, a spokesman.
The bombings marked the most serious spate of violence in Baghdad since twin car bombs on October 25 struck outside government offices, killing at least 155.
In August, bombers hit the finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100.
The core of the attacks hit central Baghdad with three blasts in the span of a few minutes.
The targets were the latest assaults directed at Iraqi authorities: near a compound with the Labor Ministry building, a court complex near the Iraqi-protected Green Zone and near the new site of the Finance Ministry after its previous building was destroyed in major attacks in August.
Police and hospital officials said at least 118 people were killed in those three car bombs and at least 192 injured.
However, Iraq's Health Ministry said as many as 513 people were injured.
About an hour before the blasts, a suicide car bomber struck a police patrol in the district of Dora in southern Baghdad, killing at least three policemen and one civilian and injuring five people.
In eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near the Technology University, missing a police patrol but killing one civilian passerby and wounding four.
Iraqi police said at least two of the Baghdad blasts were suicide bombers - one driving a bomb-rigged ambulance heading for the Finance Ministry and the other plowing through a barrier near the Appeals Court building and exploding the car as guards opened fire.
The third blast may have been car bombs detonated by timer.
"What crime have we committed? Children and women were buried under debris. Why did they (the Iraqi troops) let this car bomb pass!" cried Ahmed Jabbar as he staggered through the debris near the Finance Ministry building, an area where all cars pass through checkpoints manned by Iraqi troops.
A Kurdish parliament member, Mohammed Shareef Ahmed, was among several lawmakers demanding a full-scale inquiry.
"The parliament today is so angry toward the security services which we feel have failed to prevent these attacks," he said.
"We all feel - and all the world feels - that the Iraqi people are fed up with suffering and something should be done to stop this."
At least 118 were killed and hundreds wounded in the worst wave of violence in the Iraqi capital in more than a month, authorities said.
Five attacks, which included a suicide car bomb on a police patrol, showed the ability of insurgents to strike high-profile areas in the heart of Baghdad and marked the third time since August that government buildings were targeted with blasts that brought massive bloodshed.
The bombings reinforced concerns about shortcomings in Iraqi security and parliament held an emergency session with many lawmakers demanding answers.
Iraq's military spokesman, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, blamed the carnage on an alliance of al-Qaida in Iraq and members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party.
The United States military has sent some troops and forensic equipment to assist the Iraqis in the aftermath, said Army Master Sergeant Nicholas Conner, a spokesman.
The bombings marked the most serious spate of violence in Baghdad since twin car bombs on October 25 struck outside government offices, killing at least 155.
In August, bombers hit the finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100.
The core of the attacks hit central Baghdad with three blasts in the span of a few minutes.
The targets were the latest assaults directed at Iraqi authorities: near a compound with the Labor Ministry building, a court complex near the Iraqi-protected Green Zone and near the new site of the Finance Ministry after its previous building was destroyed in major attacks in August.
Police and hospital officials said at least 118 people were killed in those three car bombs and at least 192 injured.
However, Iraq's Health Ministry said as many as 513 people were injured.
About an hour before the blasts, a suicide car bomber struck a police patrol in the district of Dora in southern Baghdad, killing at least three policemen and one civilian and injuring five people.
In eastern Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near the Technology University, missing a police patrol but killing one civilian passerby and wounding four.
Iraqi police said at least two of the Baghdad blasts were suicide bombers - one driving a bomb-rigged ambulance heading for the Finance Ministry and the other plowing through a barrier near the Appeals Court building and exploding the car as guards opened fire.
The third blast may have been car bombs detonated by timer.
"What crime have we committed? Children and women were buried under debris. Why did they (the Iraqi troops) let this car bomb pass!" cried Ahmed Jabbar as he staggered through the debris near the Finance Ministry building, an area where all cars pass through checkpoints manned by Iraqi troops.
A Kurdish parliament member, Mohammed Shareef Ahmed, was among several lawmakers demanding a full-scale inquiry.
"The parliament today is so angry toward the security services which we feel have failed to prevent these attacks," he said.
"We all feel - and all the world feels - that the Iraqi people are fed up with suffering and something should be done to stop this."
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