At Least 95 Killed In Attacks Across Iraq
Good morning,
Evening Update:
In all, at least 95 Iraqis were killed or found dead nationwide Sunday, police reported. They included 12 policemen in Samarra, among them the city's police chief, who died when Sunni insurgents launched a suicide car bombing and other attacks on police headquarters.
The market bombing occurred about noon in the Baiyaa district of western Baghdad, shattering vehicles, ripping roofs off nearby buildings and collapsing storefronts. Police said about 80 people were injured in addition to the 30 dead.
Following the horrific blast, blood pooled on the dirt streets. Hospital officials said two pickup trucks filled with body parts were brought to the morgue.
"I was waiting near a shop to lift some boxes, when I saw the owner of the shop collapse," said Sattar Hussein, 22, who works in the market. "I helped him inside the shop, but he was already dead. The next thing I felt was pain in my left shoulder and some people rushing me to the hospital."
Ali Hamid, 25, who owns a shop in the market, said he was selling soft drinks when the blast knocked him unconscious.
"The next thing I remember is some people putting me in a pickup with two dead bodies and rushing me to the hospital," he said. He called the attack "a terrorist act aimed at creating more sectarian tension and strife."
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed allegations by Sunni politicians that Shiite militias have resumed their campaign to expel Sunnis from Baiyaa.
Most of the shops in the market were believed owned by Shiites.
That raised speculation that the bombing was carried out by Sunni hard-liners in reprisal for the alleged expulsions, which were believed to have slowed across the capital since the start of the Baghdad security crackdown Feb. 14.
The attacks in Samarra, a Sunni city 60 miles north of Baghdad, began when a suicide car bomber struck the police headquarters. Following the blast, dozens of insurgents _ some wearing masks and wielding video cameras _ opened fire on the building and at least one police checkpoint, witnesses said.
(Reported earlier today):
BAGHDAD - A car bomb ripped through a wholesale food market in western Baghdad on Sunday, flattening cars and shops and killing at least 30 people in the deadliest of a wave of attacks across Iraq that left at least 54 people dead.
The attack against the market in Baghdad came amid an 11-week-old crackdown by U.S.-led forces intended to bring stability to the capital.
Another car bomb struck the police headquarters in Samarra, a volatile city in the Sunni heartland 60 miles north of Baghdad, killing four police _ including the police chief _ and a bystander, police said. A few minutes later, militants in the town attacked a police checkpoint near the Askariya shrine, killing another police officer, police said.
Dozens of al-Qaida linked insurgents _ some wearing masks and carrying video cameras and black banners _ also paraded through the streets, arriving in about 40 cars, in a show of force against the U.S.-Iraqi efforts to tame the Tigris River city.
It was the bombing that devastated the golden dome of the Shiite mosque on Feb. 22, 2006, that has been blamed for setting off a cycle of retaliatory sectarian violence that U.S.-Iraqi forces are struggling to curb.
The violence occurred after the lifting of a curfew that had been imposed after police in the area received threats warnings them to quit their jobs or face attacks. The curfew was imposed again after Sunday's attacks.
The police chief who was killed, Col. Jalil Nahi Hassoun, assumed the helm of the force about a year ago. He worked closely with the U.S. military but was disliked by many Samarrans who alleged his forces conducted random arrests and held people without charge for prolonged periods.
Have a nice day.
Evening Update:
In all, at least 95 Iraqis were killed or found dead nationwide Sunday, police reported. They included 12 policemen in Samarra, among them the city's police chief, who died when Sunni insurgents launched a suicide car bombing and other attacks on police headquarters.
The market bombing occurred about noon in the Baiyaa district of western Baghdad, shattering vehicles, ripping roofs off nearby buildings and collapsing storefronts. Police said about 80 people were injured in addition to the 30 dead.
Following the horrific blast, blood pooled on the dirt streets. Hospital officials said two pickup trucks filled with body parts were brought to the morgue.
"I was waiting near a shop to lift some boxes, when I saw the owner of the shop collapse," said Sattar Hussein, 22, who works in the market. "I helped him inside the shop, but he was already dead. The next thing I felt was pain in my left shoulder and some people rushing me to the hospital."
Ali Hamid, 25, who owns a shop in the market, said he was selling soft drinks when the blast knocked him unconscious.
"The next thing I remember is some people putting me in a pickup with two dead bodies and rushing me to the hospital," he said. He called the attack "a terrorist act aimed at creating more sectarian tension and strife."
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which followed allegations by Sunni politicians that Shiite militias have resumed their campaign to expel Sunnis from Baiyaa.
Most of the shops in the market were believed owned by Shiites.
That raised speculation that the bombing was carried out by Sunni hard-liners in reprisal for the alleged expulsions, which were believed to have slowed across the capital since the start of the Baghdad security crackdown Feb. 14.
The attacks in Samarra, a Sunni city 60 miles north of Baghdad, began when a suicide car bomber struck the police headquarters. Following the blast, dozens of insurgents _ some wearing masks and wielding video cameras _ opened fire on the building and at least one police checkpoint, witnesses said.
(Reported earlier today):
BAGHDAD - A car bomb ripped through a wholesale food market in western Baghdad on Sunday, flattening cars and shops and killing at least 30 people in the deadliest of a wave of attacks across Iraq that left at least 54 people dead.
The attack against the market in Baghdad came amid an 11-week-old crackdown by U.S.-led forces intended to bring stability to the capital.
Another car bomb struck the police headquarters in Samarra, a volatile city in the Sunni heartland 60 miles north of Baghdad, killing four police _ including the police chief _ and a bystander, police said. A few minutes later, militants in the town attacked a police checkpoint near the Askariya shrine, killing another police officer, police said.
Dozens of al-Qaida linked insurgents _ some wearing masks and carrying video cameras and black banners _ also paraded through the streets, arriving in about 40 cars, in a show of force against the U.S.-Iraqi efforts to tame the Tigris River city.
It was the bombing that devastated the golden dome of the Shiite mosque on Feb. 22, 2006, that has been blamed for setting off a cycle of retaliatory sectarian violence that U.S.-Iraqi forces are struggling to curb.
The violence occurred after the lifting of a curfew that had been imposed after police in the area received threats warnings them to quit their jobs or face attacks. The curfew was imposed again after Sunday's attacks.
The police chief who was killed, Col. Jalil Nahi Hassoun, assumed the helm of the force about a year ago. He worked closely with the U.S. military but was disliked by many Samarrans who alleged his forces conducted random arrests and held people without charge for prolonged periods.
Have a nice day.
posted by Wink @ 10:04 AM
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