7 Baghdad blasts kill 54, destroy 7 buildings

Smoke billows in the sky over Baghdad following a large explosion that rocked the centre of the Iraqi capital. Six bombs have rocked Baghdad killing at least 35 people, the second time the capital has come under attack in three days, fuelling fears insurgents are making a return due to a political impasse.
(AFP/Ali al-Saadi)


Collateral Murder

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff. Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded. For further information please visit the special project website www.collateralmurder.com.

06 Apr 2010 08:31:47 GMT
Source: Reuters
* 11 dead, dozens wounded, others trapped under rubble

* Blasts destroy at least four buildings in capital

* Upturn in violence after election results

(Adds background, details)

By Khalid al-Ansary and Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD, April 6 (Reuters) - Coordinated blasts destroyed four buildings and killed up to 11 people across Baghdad on Tuesday, authorities said, bringing the number killed around the capital in the last five days to 70.

The surge in violence comes amid prolonged uncertainty over who will form the next government nearly a month after a parliamentary election that produced no clear winner. Coalition negotiations could take months more.

A police source said the blasts had killed 11 people and wounded 30 more. An official with the Health Ministry put the toll at four dead and 75 wounded, with others trapped under the rubble.

The blasts took place in the Shula and Chukook districts of northwestern Baghdad, the al-Shurta al-Rabaa area of southwestern Baghdad and the Alawi district in the centre of the city, the sources said.

A suicide bomber struck near the former British embassy in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

The explosions hit the capital two days after coordinated suicide car bomb attacks on foreign embassies killed 41 people and wounded more than 200 others. The Iranian, Egyptian and German embassies appeared to be the targets.

Gunmen also attacked a village south of Baghdad and killed 24 people on Friday.

NO CLEAR WINNER

Iraqi security forces had predicted a possible upturn of violence following the March 7 election, which highlighted Iraq's sectarian divide.

The top two coalitions, the cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and the State of Law bloc led by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, finished just two seats apart. Neither won enough to form a majority government.

All of the major coalitions are involved in talks to form a new government.

After the last parliamentary election in 2005, sectarian violence exploded as politicians took five months to reach agreement on a government. (Additional reporting by Aseel Kami; Writing by Ian Simpson and Jim Loney; Editing by Jon Hemming)


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By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Writer Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press Writer – 59 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Hundreds of mourners marched through the streets of a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad on Wednesday in funeral processions for some of the 54 people killed the previous day in a series of bombings in the Iraqi capital.

In one procession, families and friends of one victim carried his coffin and picture over their heads through the narrow streets, walking to the cadence of a gun being fired into the air in time to a drum.

Nearby, the Iraqi-flag draped coffin of another victim was carried to a car to be taken away for burial, as mourners wailed and fired gunshots into the air.

"The whole district is in mourning because even if you didn't have a relative killed, it might have been a neighbor or a friend," said shop-owner Saif Hasan, who blamed the government for not providing better security.

"Instead of improving our area with reconstruction and services, we face bombings and destruction," the 25-year-old said.

At least seven bombs ripped through apartment buildings across Baghdad on Tuesday and another struck a market, killing 54 people and wounding 187. The explosions reduced one building to rubble, and knocked out windows and doors and ripped off facades of others.

The explosions were the latest in a five-day spree of attacks in and around the capital that have killed some 120 people.

The violence, which has largely targeted families and homes, was reminiscent of the sectarian bloodshed that tore Iraq apart from 2005 to 2007 and prompted the United States to send tens of thousands more troops to the front lines.

But even since that time, sectarian violence and attacks on civilians have flared up, especially surrounding important events such as the election.

Iraqi and U.S. officials both blamed the latest spike in attacks on al-Qaida insurgents seizing on gaping security lapses created by the political deadlock that has gripped the country since its March 7 parliamentary election failed to produce a clear winner.

Police investigating the Tuesday attacks said in one case, the suspected bomber rented a first-floor apartment in one of the buildings a week ago, and likely rigged it with explosives.

Police are working on the theory that the other buildings were attacked the same way, an investigator told the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with the press.