Bombs kill 23 in Iraq as Shiite mosques targeted
Source: Agencies |
March 30, 2013, Saturday
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A STRING of bombings targeting five Shiite mosques in Iraq killed at least 23 people and wounded dozens yesterday, officials said. The attacks were the latest in spectacular assaults staged by insurgents seeking to undermine the Shiite-led government's efforts to achieve security across the country.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the bombings bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida's Iraq branch. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, frequently uses car bombs, suicide bombers and coordinated blasts in an effort to sow fear among Shiites and erode their trust in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Four car bombs hit Shiite mosques in the Iraqi capital as worshippers were leaving after yesterday's prayers, killing 19 people and wounding 72.
First, a parked car exploded in Baghdad's western Jihad neighborhood, killing seven worshippers and wounding 25, a police officer said. Another police officer said four people were killed and nearly 20 were wounded in a bombing in eastern Qahira neighborhood. Three people died and 15 were wounded in the eastern Zafaraniyah district while yet another car bomb killed five people and wounded 14 in the northeastern Binook neighborhood.
And in the northern city of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a group of worshippers as they were leaving a mosque after yesterday's prayers, killing three people and wounding up to 70, according to police Colonel Najat Hassan. A senior provisional health official, Sidiq Omar Rasool, confirmed the casualty figures in Kirkuk.
Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007, but Sunni insurgents still occasionally carry out high-profile attacks against Shiites, considering them to be heretics.
Friday is a popular day for militants to undertake such attacks because of the rush of mostly men and boys who flock to the mosques throughout the country to hear traditional Muslim sermons and take part in communal prayers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the bombings bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida's Iraq branch. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, frequently uses car bombs, suicide bombers and coordinated blasts in an effort to sow fear among Shiites and erode their trust in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Four car bombs hit Shiite mosques in the Iraqi capital as worshippers were leaving after yesterday's prayers, killing 19 people and wounding 72.
First, a parked car exploded in Baghdad's western Jihad neighborhood, killing seven worshippers and wounding 25, a police officer said. Another police officer said four people were killed and nearly 20 were wounded in a bombing in eastern Qahira neighborhood. Three people died and 15 were wounded in the eastern Zafaraniyah district while yet another car bomb killed five people and wounded 14 in the northeastern Binook neighborhood.
And in the northern city of Kirkuk, 290 kilometers north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a group of worshippers as they were leaving a mosque after yesterday's prayers, killing three people and wounding up to 70, according to police Colonel Najat Hassan. A senior provisional health official, Sidiq Omar Rasool, confirmed the casualty figures in Kirkuk.
Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007, but Sunni insurgents still occasionally carry out high-profile attacks against Shiites, considering them to be heretics.
Friday is a popular day for militants to undertake such attacks because of the rush of mostly men and boys who flock to the mosques throughout the country to hear traditional Muslim sermons and take part in communal prayers.
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