January 24, 2012

Car bombs hit Baghdad's Sadr City

Aftermath of a bomb attack in Sadr City (24 January 2012)  
Iraq has been hit by a series of bombings targeting Shia in the past month
At least 10 people have been killed and 33 wounded in two separate car bomb attacks in an eastern Shia district of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police say.
The first bomb targeted day labourers waiting for jobs in Sadr City. Police said eight were killed and 21 wounded.

Minutes later, a car exploded at a roundabout 3km (1.9 miles) away, killing two people and injuring 11.
There has been a rise in attacks in Iraq since US troops left last month, leaving as many as 170 people dead.
The violence has corresponded with a marked deterioration in Iraq's fragile political process, with the country's most prominent Sunni Arab politician being sought by the authorities on terrorism charges.
Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi has denied the accusations against him and fled to the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq.

The biggest bloc in parliament, al-Iraqiyya, has accused Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, of using the law to consolidate his grip on power, and is boycotting parliament and cabinet sessions in protest.
Al-Iraqiyya's leader, Iyad Allawi, said last week Iraq needed a new prime minister or elections to prevent it disintegrating along sectarian lines.
Monday's bombings appeared to once again target the majority Shia community, which has borne the brunt of attacks in the past month.
One of the day labourers who had been waiting for work in Sadr City when the first bomb exploded said it was "like a black storm".

"I felt myself thrown on the ground," Ahmed Ali told to the Reuters news agency from a bed inside the local hospital. "I fainted for a while then I woke up and hurried to one of the cars to take me to the hospital."
The target of the second attack was not clear, with some reports saying the car bomb exploded near a pastry shop and others near people queuing to buy heating fuel.
Officials also said a roadside bomb later exploded on the Muthanna airport road in central Baghdad, wounding at least six people.

No comments:

Post a Comment