BAGHDAD - It was the dealiest day of the Iraq as more than 70 people were killed and dozens more were wounded on Monday in a string of violent attacks around Iraq. Two bombs two bombs exploded in a busy market in the city center of Kut, killing at least 37 and injuring more than 50 in one incident.
Car bombs also detonated in the northern city of Kirkuk and the pricey Mansour district of Baghdad. Elsewhere, AK-47 wielding assailants targeted anti-terror leaders in Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad.
The attacks came after a period of relative quiet in the country, which had descended as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began in early August.
Lt. Col. Hachem Neama Abbas, an Iraqi army commander in Baghdad, said the military had been bracing for a new round of violence. The attacks, he said, are proof that insurgents still pose a threat to the country’s stability. They also raise questions about the Iraqi government’s ability to maintain security as American troops prepare to leave the country by December.
“This wave of explosions and attacks is evidence that al-Qaeda is still effective,” Abbas said.
Iraq is debating whether or not to ask a small contingent of U.S. forces to stay past the deadline, but no official request has been made yet, U.S. officials have said.
A spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, Major Angela L. Funaro, said that while it was too early to speculate on the groups behind the day's violence, it was “eerily similar” to a large-scale attack last year during Ramadan. Then, al-Qaeda insurgents targeted checkpoints and Iraqi forces in several cities, killing at least 53.
Monday’s worst violence happened in Kut, a large city in central Iraq about 100 miles from Baghdad. Insurgents detonated a sound bomb in a crowded area near a jewelry store at about 8:45 a.m., said Hassan Abudul Zahra Al-Wailey, a spokesman for the local police.
About 10 minutes later, a car bomb exploded in the same place, killing 37, including 12 children. Some the children had been selling bags to those buying produce at the market.
In Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, 13 people, including four Iraqi army officers, were killed in a series of car bombs, explosions and shootings.
In Tikrit, a man dressed in a traffic police uniform blew himself up at the main gate of the city’s counter-terrorism facility. In the melee that followed, another bomber detonated explosives, killing and injuring many who had rushed to help. In all nine died, including a high-ranking anti-terror official.
Elsewhere, three were killed in a series of car bombings in Baghdad, and eight killed in attacks on government facilities in Najaf and Karbala.
Kirkuk, a city north of Baghdad, saw three explosions — including a car bomb that killed one person and a explosion near a church that injured four. Kirkuk’s provincial governor, Najmaldin Karim, has called on American troops to stay in the country past the deadline.
The attacks came after a period of relative quiet in the country, which had descended as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began in early August.
Lt. Col. Hachem Neama Abbas, an Iraqi army commander in Baghdad, said the military had been bracing for a new round of violence. The attacks, he said, are proof that insurgents still pose a threat to the country’s stability. They also raise questions about the Iraqi government’s ability to maintain security as American troops prepare to leave the country by December.
“This wave of explosions and attacks is evidence that al-Qaeda is still effective,” Abbas said.
Iraq is debating whether or not to ask a small contingent of U.S. forces to stay past the deadline, but no official request has been made yet, U.S. officials have said.
A spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, Major Angela L. Funaro, said that while it was too early to speculate on the groups behind the day's violence, it was “eerily similar” to a large-scale attack last year during Ramadan. Then, al-Qaeda insurgents targeted checkpoints and Iraqi forces in several cities, killing at least 53.
Monday’s worst violence happened in Kut, a large city in central Iraq about 100 miles from Baghdad. Insurgents detonated a sound bomb in a crowded area near a jewelry store at about 8:45 a.m., said Hassan Abudul Zahra Al-Wailey, a spokesman for the local police.
About 10 minutes later, a car bomb exploded in the same place, killing 37, including 12 children. Some the children had been selling bags to those buying produce at the market.
In Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, 13 people, including four Iraqi army officers, were killed in a series of car bombs, explosions and shootings.
In Tikrit, a man dressed in a traffic police uniform blew himself up at the main gate of the city’s counter-terrorism facility. In the melee that followed, another bomber detonated explosives, killing and injuring many who had rushed to help. In all nine died, including a high-ranking anti-terror official.
Elsewhere, three were killed in a series of car bombings in Baghdad, and eight killed in attacks on government facilities in Najaf and Karbala.
Kirkuk, a city north of Baghdad, saw three explosions — including a car bomb that killed one person and a explosion near a church that injured four. Kirkuk’s provincial governor, Najmaldin Karim, has called on American troops to stay in the country past the deadline.
No comments:
Post a Comment