Associated PressTags : Baghdad, FallujahPosted: Mon Sep 20 2010, 02:50 hrs=================================================================
Three car bombs tore through Baghdad and the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Sunday, killing at least 36 people and breaking what had been a period of relative calm since the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The violence was the worst to strike Iraq since the US declared a formal end to combat operations. It also underlines the challenges Iraqi security forces face trying to stabilise Baghdad as the US trims its military presence and Iraq’s police and military assume responsibility for security.
The deadliest attack Sunday took place in north Baghdad’s Kazimiyah neighbourhood when a car bomb detonated near a branch office of the National Security Ministry in Adan square, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 70, the police and hospital officials said.
“It was a big explosion and dust and smoke filled my house,” said Abu Shahad, who lives about 200 yards from the blast site. “I went out and saw a big black cloud hanging over the area where the bomb exploded.”
At least 10 people were killed in another car bombing in western Baghdad’s affluent Mansour neighbourhood, said Army Brig Gen Ali Fadhal, who is responsible for the western half of the city. Another 10 people were wounded in the attack.
Fadhal said security officials were investigating whether the blast was the work of a suicide attacker in a car targeting a crowded commercial area near an AsiaCell store, one of Iraq’s biggest mobile phone providers.
The blast sheered off large sections of the concrete walls from the surrounding buildings, and chunks of rubble were strewn around the street. Dozens of Iraqi army and police officers cordoned off the area.
Three car bombs tore through Baghdad and the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Sunday, killing at least 36 people and breaking what had been a period of relative calm since the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The violence was the worst to strike Iraq since the US declared a formal end to combat operations. It also underlines the challenges Iraqi security forces face trying to stabilise Baghdad as the US trims its military presence and Iraq’s police and military assume responsibility for security.
The deadliest attack Sunday took place in north Baghdad’s Kazimiyah neighbourhood when a car bomb detonated near a branch office of the National Security Ministry in Adan square, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 70, the police and hospital officials said.
“It was a big explosion and dust and smoke filled my house,” said Abu Shahad, who lives about 200 yards from the blast site. “I went out and saw a big black cloud hanging over the area where the bomb exploded.”
At least 10 people were killed in another car bombing in western Baghdad’s affluent Mansour neighbourhood, said Army Brig Gen Ali Fadhal, who is responsible for the western half of the city. Another 10 people were wounded in the attack.
Fadhal said security officials were investigating whether the blast was the work of a suicide attacker in a car targeting a crowded commercial area near an AsiaCell store, one of Iraq’s biggest mobile phone providers.
The blast sheered off large sections of the concrete walls from the surrounding buildings, and chunks of rubble were strewn around the street. Dozens of Iraqi army and police officers cordoned off the area.
new government since inconclusive parliamentary polls in March. Security officials could be seen roaming the blast site as ambulances and other vehicles blocked the road leading to the checkpoint near a branch office of the Ministry of National Security that police say was targeted. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
In Fallujah, a suicide attacker in a car struck an Iraqi Army patrol in the city’s busy commercial district, killing one Iraqi soldier and four civilians. At least 15 people were wounded in the attack.
In Fallujah, a suicide attacker in a car struck an Iraqi Army patrol in the city’s busy commercial district, killing one Iraqi soldier and four civilians. At least 15 people were wounded in the attack.
(indian express)
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