Black Monday as blasts kill 32 in Iraq
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 07, 2009 00:00
BAGHDAD - A series of bloody car bombings in Baghdad yesterday recalled the blackest days of violence in the capital as at least 32 people were killed and nearly 130 more were wounded.
Shortly after midday, twin car bombs tore through a popular medical clinic and a crowded bazaar, killing 12 and wounding 23 in Um Al-Maalif just west of the city center, defense and interior ministry officials said.
A total of six car bombs shattered the city's fragile security situation just as British Business Minister Peter Mandelson arrived in Baghdad.
During the morning rush hour 10 people were killed and 65 wounded when a booby-trapped car exploded in a market area of the impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad, an official said.
In the central Allawi district, four people were killed and 15 others wounded by another car bomb. Most of the victims were workers waiting for jobs, a defense ministry official said.
A car bomb targeting the convoy of a senior interior ministry official killed one civilian and a policeman and wounded six other policemen in the southeastern neighborhood of New Baghdad. The official, a brigadier general identified as Sadun, was unhurt. And in Hussainiya, in the city's far northeast, four people were killed and 20 were wounded when a vehicle exploded near a market. Officials in the capital were unsure if the rush hour bombings between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. were coordinated. Attacks at that time are common because the streets are so crowded.
Despite improving security bombings remain all too common in the capital, and the latest attacks came as Mandelson led Britain's first official trade delegation to Baghdad for more than 20 years. The business delegation, on a one-day visit, will also visit Basra, a British embassy official said.
High death toll in March
Security in Iraq has improved dramatically since 2007, when Iraqi and U.S. forces launched offensives against al-Qaeda militants with the help of local U.S.-financed and U.S.-trained militias. But insurgents are still able to strike with deadly results. A total of 252 Iraqis were killed in violence in March, almost the same level as the previous month.
Statistics compiled by the defense, interior and health ministries showed that 185 civilians, 14 soldiers and 53 policemen were killed across Iraq, while the total number of wounded stood at 647.
The 258 Iraqis killed in February and the latest monthly toll was both higher than in January when 191 Iraqis were killed - the lowest monthly tally since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003.
A total of six car bombs shattered the city's fragile security situation just as British Business Minister Peter Mandelson arrived in Baghdad.
During the morning rush hour 10 people were killed and 65 wounded when a booby-trapped car exploded in a market area of the impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad, an official said.
In the central Allawi district, four people were killed and 15 others wounded by another car bomb. Most of the victims were workers waiting for jobs, a defense ministry official said.
A car bomb targeting the convoy of a senior interior ministry official killed one civilian and a policeman and wounded six other policemen in the southeastern neighborhood of New Baghdad. The official, a brigadier general identified as Sadun, was unhurt. And in Hussainiya, in the city's far northeast, four people were killed and 20 were wounded when a vehicle exploded near a market. Officials in the capital were unsure if the rush hour bombings between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. were coordinated. Attacks at that time are common because the streets are so crowded.
Despite improving security bombings remain all too common in the capital, and the latest attacks came as Mandelson led Britain's first official trade delegation to Baghdad for more than 20 years. The business delegation, on a one-day visit, will also visit Basra, a British embassy official said.
High death toll in March
Security in Iraq has improved dramatically since 2007, when Iraqi and U.S. forces launched offensives against al-Qaeda militants with the help of local U.S.-financed and U.S.-trained militias. But insurgents are still able to strike with deadly results. A total of 252 Iraqis were killed in violence in March, almost the same level as the previous month.
Statistics compiled by the defense, interior and health ministries showed that 185 civilians, 14 soldiers and 53 policemen were killed across Iraq, while the total number of wounded stood at 647.
The 258 Iraqis killed in February and the latest monthly toll was both higher than in January when 191 Iraqis were killed - the lowest monthly tally since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003.