Winks Blog

At Least 11 Iraqis Killed, 70 Wounded In Two Car Bomb Attacks

Good afternoon:

Two bombings 20 minutes apart killed at least 11 Iraqis on Thursday, and the U.S. military announced five more American battle deaths. A U.S. rocket attack on the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City killed a woman and enraged Shiites across Iraq.

car bomb exploded at about 5 p.m. outside a gasoline station in the eastern New Baghdad neighborhood, killing two people and wounding 13, police said. U.S. troops cordoned off the scene as firefighters battled giant plumes of bright orange flames.

About 20 minutes later, a suicide attacker apparently trying to target a Shiite mosque exploded his bomb-packed car in a nearby open-air market in New Baghdad, killing at least nine people and wounding 57, police said.

Capt. Mohammed Jassim said barricades prevented the attacker, who was driving a black Opel sedan, from reaching the al-Mohsen mosque where worshippers were gathering for sunset prayers.

"As he couldn't get through, he turned his car and slammed it into nearby shops and stalls," Jassim said.

The bombings followed a morning barrage of rockets fired by a U.S. helicopter into the nearby eastern Baghdad area of Sadr City, power-base of radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Military spokeswoman Sgt. Stacy Simon said American forces were in Sadr City at about 1 a.m. pursuing a "known terrorist associated with Ansar al-Sunnah," a Sunni militant group that has claimed responsibility for many suicide attacks and beheadings. At least two people were detained, but their identities were not known.

"As troops were leaving the area in a U.S. military helicopter, men on a nearby rooftop began firing at the aircraft," Simon said. "The helicopter returned fire with guns and rockets."

A 20-year-old woman was killed when a rocket crashed into her home, said her father, who was wounded along with a woman and a 2-year-old child.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 4:39 PM