Series Of Blasts Strikes Baghdad, Killing Dozens
Posted September 1, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s been a particularly violent 24 hours in Iraq as a series of attacks in eastern Baghdad killed at least 64 people and wounded more then 280 within half an hour.
Thursday night’s aggression targeted mainly Shiite neighbourhoods and included explosives planted in apartments, car bombs, and rocket and mortar attacks.
Sunni Arabs have accused the Shiite militia of running death squads – similar incidents of civil unrest across the country brought Thursday’s death toll to at least 85.
It’s believed the attackers rented apartments and shops, proceeded to plant explosives in them, and then detonated them at about the same time on Thursday, according to the Interior Ministry’s counterterrorism unit.
The blasts occurred between 6 and 6:30pm local time, and included a car bomb at a market, and another near a telephone exchange building.
Residents of the demolished neighbourhoods picked through the rubble where their homes used to stand, while nearby hospitals were crowded with dozens of dead and wounded.
There was more bloodshed Friday, as gunmen fatally shot two policemen in separate incidents in towns outside Baghdad.
Hundreds of Iraqis have been killed over the past week in violent civil clashes. The U.S. military also confirmed two American soldiers and a marine were killed on Wednesday, bringing the number of soldiers killed since Sunday to 18.
Still, U.S. authorities said they were optimistic about handing over security of the country to Iraqi forces, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insisted that should happen by the end of the year.
