Blasts killed at least 44 people and wounded scores in Baghdad on Monday (October 30) in one of the bloodiest days in the capital in weeks. A bomb killed 28 people and wounded 60 in a square in the Muslim Shi'ite Sadr City district in eastern Baghdad where labourers were gathering to wait for job offers, Interior Ministry sources said. Five car bombs in different parts of Baghdad killed 13 people. Sadr City is a stronghold of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who heads the powerful Mehdi Army militia widely blamed for sectarian killings targeting Sunni Arabs. Al Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups battling U.S. forces and the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, have in the past struck Sadr City. The blast tore through food stalls and shops. Scattered clothes and twisted metal lay amid debris and pools of blood. "We do not know whether it was a bomb or a mortar. Let (Prime Minister Nuri) al-Maliki hear that. Does God accept that? Let al-Maliki and others hear that. They are poor labourers who work to bring a daily living for their families. They are poor labourers and people who sell tea. The Americans did it. It is an ugly act. They did it and then they came in their vehicles here. They are sons of bitches," said a local resident. Another bomb targeted civilians exploded in western Baghdad. The bomb exploded in the al-Harthiya district of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding five, Interior ministry sources said. "Owners of the shops ran away from the scene. People were shouting 'be careful, be careful, there is a car bomb'. We were calling the police when the car bomb exploded. Thank God, no serious casualties, only wounded and material losses," said eyewitness Haithem Hashim. Iraq has been gripped by sectarian bloodletting since the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in February. An improvised explosive device exploded as a convoy of three four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles was driving past in the southern port city of Basra, witnesses said. One of the sport utility vehicles in convoy was damaged in the last, and witnesses said all its five passengers were killed in the attack. The British troops rushed to the site, cordoning the area and towing the damaged car. There is no comment from the police in the city and the British troops on the casualties and the nationality of the passengers. Foreign officials and security contractors move around in high-profile convoys of four-wheel-drive sports utility vehicles accompanied by armed guards. They are a frequent target for insurgents, particularly on the dangerous airport road. Later on Monday a car bomb exploded in al-Amil district of southern Baghdad on Monday killing three people and wounding ten, police said. They said that the car bomb was parked near a bakery in the area. A car bomb also exploded near al-Yarmouk hospital in southwestern Baghdad killing one civilian and wounding five, police said. The United Nations estimates 100 Iraqis die every day in violence that Iraqi and U.S. officials fear could descend into civil war.
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Added: Apr 16, 2008 |
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