Suicide bombers, attacks hit Baghdad police, 23 dead

Suicide bombers, attacks hit Baghdad police, 23 dead

12 Oct 2011 09:23
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Two suicide bombers among attackers

* Attacks target police across Baghdad

* Second wave of attacks in Baghdad in three days (Updates death toll, adds details)

BAGHDAD, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Suicide bombers and roadside blasts targeted police in a wave of attacks across Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens on the second day of serial bombings in the Iraqi capital in less than a week.

One bomber rammed an explosives-filled vehicle into a police station in central Alwiya district, killing 13, and another blew up his car at a police building in northwestern Hurriya, killing 4 people and wounding 40, officials said.

"A car approached and... the driver smashed through the checkpoint and exploded the car when he hit a concrete barrier," Police Lt. Nadeer Adel told Reuters. "Smoke was everywhere, we all took cover. Minutes later we found a crater and some of our police were dead."

The Hurriya blast burned out police vehicles and damaged the station's blue protective blast walls next to the large crater in the road. In other districts blasts blew out windows from nearby homes and shops, scattering streets with debris.

The string of apparently coordinated bombings highlighted worries over the ability of insurgents to test Iraqi forces with multiple attacks despite security improvements as the last U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by the end of this year.

A car bomb on Wednesday also targeted a police patrol in southern Ilaam district, killing at least three, while a roadside bomb hit an army patrol in Hurriya, killing one civilian and injuring 12 people, mostly soldiers, police said.

Two police officers were also killed and seven people wounded when a roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the mainly Shi'ite Washash district in western Baghdad.

None of Iraq's insurgent or militia groups claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suicide bombings are usually the hallmark of Iraq's al-Qaeda affiliates.

At least 10 people were killed on Monday in three successive blasts in Washash district. The first blast was followed by two more when emergency services arrived at the site to tend to wounded.

The two days of Baghdad attacks came just after the government said it was postponing the army's handover of security in the cities to the police because it was concerned over their readiness.

The number of bombings and attacks in Iraq has fallen sharply from its peak during the sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but Sunni Islamists tied to al-Qaeda and radical Shi'ite militias are still a threat in the OPEC producer.

Insurgents this year have increasingly targeted local security forces and local government offices outside the capital in what Iraqi officials say is an attempt to show that the government cannot provide security as U.S. troops leave.

More than eight years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the last 44,000 U.S. troops are preparing to pull out of Iraq when a bilateral security pact expires, though Baghdad and Washington are in talks about whether some will stay on as trainers. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem and Ahmed Rasheed; writing by Patrick Markey; editing by Tim Pearce)


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Two bombings kill 16 in Baghdad Shi'ite district

13 Oct 2011 20:32
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Bombings hit mainly Shi'ite Baghdad neighbourhood

* Third large attack on capital in less than a week (Adds details throughout)

BAGHDAD, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Two bomb blasts killed at least 16 people in a mainly Shi'ite Baghdad district on Thursday in the latest in a series of large attacks to hit Iraq's capital in less than a week.

Bombings across Baghdad since Monday are highlighting security risks in Iraq as U.S. troops prepare to leave by a year-end deadline more than eight years after the U.S. invasion.

In Thursday's attacks, a roadside bomb exploded near a coffee shop in the mainly Shi'ite district of Sadr City followed by a car bomb nearby, witnesses and police said.

"I heard a blast... I went to the scene to see what happened with some people. Soon after, 100 metres away, a taxi exploded," Mohammed Khadim, a witness said at a local hospital. "There were casualties lying in the street."

At least 16 people were killed in the two blasts and about 40 more were wounded, police and hospital sources said. A ministry of interior source put the toll at 18 killed.

Sadr City, an impoverished neighbourhood in northeastern Baghdad, is the stronghold of radical Shi'ite, anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Mehdi militia once fought U.S. and Iraqi troops. He is now a key ally of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the heights of sectarian fighting in 2006-2007, but attacks still occur daily.

Suicide bombers and roadside blasts killed at least 28 people on Wednesday across Baghdad. The attacks mostly targeted police stations and patrols.

At least 10 people were killed on Monday, in three blasts in the mainly Shi'ite Washash district of the capital. The first blast was followed by two more explosions when emergency services arrived on the scene.

The last 41,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to withdraw when a bilateral security pact ends, but Baghdad and Washington are in talks to decide whether troops stay on as trainers after that. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Louise Ireland)