A U.S. soldier stands guard near the wreckage of a vehicle used in a car bomb attack in Baghdad July 23, 2007. At least 10 people, including two policemen, were killed and 28 wounded when two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in different areas of Baghdad's central Karrada district, police said. Up to 20 cars were set ablaze. (Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters)
Baghdad car bomb kills 25, wounds 115
Paul Tait, Reuters
Published: 4 hours ago
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A parked car bomb killed 25 people and wounded 115 when it exploded near an intersection in central Baghdad on Thursday and police said the toll could rise as many bodies were believed still buried under rubble.
Bodies lay strewn around the street after the blast, which smashed three buildings into piles of masonry and concrete. It was at least the fourth to hit the predominantly Shi'ite district of Karrada this week.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up security operations in Baghdad since mid-February in an attempt to stem bombings, many of them blamed on al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni Islamist group that U.S. officials say is trying to spark a full-scale civil war.
But large-scale bombings continue to plague the capital.
U.S. President George W. Bush, under mounting pressure from opposition Democrats to set a timetable for withdrawing American troops, has sent 28,000 more soldiers to Iraq this year, bringing the total force to about 157,000.
While the build-up only peaked in June, the Pentagon is making contingency plans for a withdrawal, according to U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
In a letter delivered on Tuesday to Senator Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat and presidential candidate who tangled with the Pentagon to learn whether such plans exist, Gates said he was actively involved in drafting them.
"You may rest assured that such planning is indeed taking place with my active involvement as well as that of senior military and civilian officials and our commanders in the field," Gates said in the letter obtained by Reuters.
"I consider this contingency planning to be a priority for this department."
A critical juncture in the war is likely to be in September, when Bush's top officials in Iraq present a report to the U.S. Congress on Iraq's security and political progress.
With little sign of political reconciliation between majority Shi'ites and once dominant minority Sunni Arabs, the report could heighten calls for U.S. troops to pull out.
GUNFIRE, SMOKE
In Baghdad's Karrada district, residents bundled victims from the car bomb into the boots of cars and the back of pick-up trucks and vans to rush them to hospital as police tried to evacuate stunned residents.
At least one building and several cars were ablaze and a huge plum of thick black smoke rose into the air. Short bursts of gunfire could be heard soon after the explosion.
Karrada, normally one of Baghdad's most stable areas, was hit by three separate blasts on Monday which killed 13 people.
Separately, the U.S. military said six soldiers had been killed in Iraq over the past two days.
Three Marines and a soldier died in combat in volatile Diyala province north of Baghdad on Tuesday. A roadside bomb killed a soldier in Baghdad on the same day, while another soldier was killed by small arms fire in Baghdad on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the U.S. military's second most senior commander in Iraq said militia mortar and rocket crews had been hitting Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone with greater accuracy in the past three months because of training from Iran.
Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno's comments came after the U.S. ambassador to Iraq accused Tehran of increasing support for militias when he met his Iranian counterpart for a second round of talks on Iraq's violence on Tuesday.
Iran rejects the allegations.
"In the last three months we have seen a significant improvement in the capability of mortarmen and rocketeers to provide accurate fire into the Green Zone and other places," Odierno, operational commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said.
"We think this is directly related to training conducted inside Iran," he told a news conference.
Rocket and mortar barrages have hit the sprawling Green Zone, home to the U.S. embassy and Iraqi government buildings, with greater frequency in recent months.
(Additional reporting by Dean Yates in Baghdad and Kristin Roberts in Washington)
© Reuters 2007
Residents ask for help from a building after it was set ablaze by a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada district July 26, 2007. Twenty people were killed and 60 wounded when a parked car bomb exploded near an intersection in central Baghdad's predominantly Shi'ite district on Thursday, Iraqi police said. REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud (IRAQ)
Truck bombing rips through Baghdad market; U.S. military reports 7 troops deaths
2007-07-26 21:15:32 -
BAGHDAD (AP) - An explosives-laden garbage truck blew up near a market in a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people as an Associated Press tally showed the death toll for Iraqis so far in July jumped to at least 1,759, already a 7 percent increase from the previous month.
The U.S. military, meanwhile, said seven more troops died in Iraq even as a top commander expressed cautious optimism over a downturn in the overall number of American casualties so far in July compared with the previous three months.
Three columns of smoke billowed into the sky and fires burned on the ground after the thunderous explosion, which set cars and buildings on fire, in the busy shopping district of Karradah in central Baghdad.
Police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said 25 people were killed and 74 wounded.
An Iraqi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, later said Sunni extremists had launched a rocket on a residential building in Karradah, killing at least 15 people, wounding 84 and damaging some nearby buildings, according to initial reports.
It could not immediately be determined whether al-Moussawi was referring to a separate attack or offering a different account of what happened.
The attack was the deadliest in a series of bombings nationwide as at least 78 people were killed or found dead, a day after two suicide car bombings killed and wounded dozens of revelers celebrating the national team's semifinal victory in Asia's top soccer tournament.
Firas Rahim, who sells clothes at a stand near the site of Thursday's explosion said he saw at least three buildings on fire, with firefighters climbing ladders from their engines to rescue people stuck in their apartments. Many residents were crying as they searched for missing relatives.
«The terrorists, curse them, are behind this act. They are angry because the people were celebrating and happy yesterday. Now they took their revenge,» he said, referring to the jubilation that filled the streets of Baghdad after the soccer team advanced to Sunday's finals in the Asian Cup.
With five days to go before the end of July, the AP tally showed that at least 1,759 Iraqis were killed in war-related violence through July 26, more than the 1,640 who were reported killed in all of June.
Victims of sectarian slayings were also on the rise: at least 723 bodies were found dumped across Iraq so far in July, or an average of nearly 28 a day, compared with 19 a day in June, when 563 bodies were reported found, according to the AP. At least 28 bodies were found Thursday _ most in Baghdad _ apparent victims of so-called sectarian death squads usually run by Shiite militias.
Those numbers included civilians, government officials and Iraqi security forces, and are considered only a minimum based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
The high casualty figures dealt a blow to U.S. and Iraqi claims of success in stemming the violence as they fight to gain control of the capital and surrounding areas ahead of a pivotal progress report due to be delivered to U.S. Congress in September as legislators are engaged in a fierce debate over calls to bring American troops home.
U.S. troop deaths, meanwhile, were lower so far in July than at any time since the American and Iraqi governments launched a security crackdown on Feb. 12.
The No. 2 commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, said it appeared that casualties had increased as fresh U.S. forces expanded operations into militant strongholds as part of the 5-month-old operation aimed at clamping off violence in the capital, but were going down as the Americans gained control of the areas.
«We've started to see a slow but gradual reduction in casualties, and it continues in July,» he said at a news conference. «It's an initial positive sign, but I would argue we need a bit more time to make an assessment whether it's a true trend.
Three U.S. Marines and a sailor were killed Tuesday in combat in Diyala province _ the site of a major military operation against a Sunni insurgent stronghold, according to the military. It also said two U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad _ one in a roadside bombing on Tuesday and another in a gunbattle on Wednesday. Separately, a Marine died Sunday in a non-combat related incident in Anbar province.
The deaths raised to at least 64 U.S. troops who have died this month, a relatively low number compared with American death tolls of more than 100 for the previous three months, according to an Associated Press tally based on military statements.
By contrast, the death toll over the months of April, May and June was unusually high. The toll the preceding three months ranged from 81 to 83. In July 2006, the toll was 43.
Odierno also said the U.S. military has noted a «significant improvement» in the aim of attackers firing rockets and mortars into the heavily fortified Green Zone in the past three months.
Attacks against the sprawling complex along the Tigris River in Baghdad have increased in recent months, adding to the concern over the safety of key Iraqi and international officials and thousands of U.S. soldiers and contractors who live and work there.
Odierno said networks continue to smuggle powerful roadside bombs and mortars across the border from Iran despite Tehran's assertions that it supports stability in Iraq, though he offered no proof. Iran has denied the U.S. allegations about its activities in Iraq.
His remarks came two days after the U.S. and Iranian ambassadors to Iraq met in Baghdad and agreed to establish a security committee to jointly address the violence amid Washington's allegations that Tehran is fueling the violence by support Shiite militias. Odierno said the military also believes training of extremists is being conducted in Iran.
«One of the reasons why we're sitting down with the Iranian government ... is trying to solve some of these problems,» Odierno said at a news conference in the Green Zone, which is home to the U.S. Embassy and the Iraqi government headquarters.
«We have seen in the last three months a significant improvement in the capability of mortarmen and rocketeers to provide accurate fires into the Green Zone and other places and we think this is directly related to training that is conducted in Iran,» Odierno said. «So we continue to go after these networks with the Iraqi security forces.
Separately, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with military commanders and tribal leaders in the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. The area has been the site of a major U.S.-Iraqi operation aimed at clearing it of al-Qaida in Iraq fighters. The Shiite prime minister also discussed efforts to rebuild the city and deliver aid to residents.
Northern Iraq also faced attacks on Thursday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up at the gate of a police station west of Mosul, killing at least six people and wounding 13, police Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Waqaa said. Most of the casualties were policemen.
A parked car bomb also exploded near a popular restaurant in the center of disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk, killing at least six civilians and wounding 25, police Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said.
Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub in Baghdad contributed to this report.
U.S. (L) and Iraqi soldiers secure the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad July 23, 2007. At least 10 people, including two policemen, were killed and 28 wounded when two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in different areas of Baghdad's central Karrada district, police said. Up to 20 cars were set ablaze. REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz (IRAQ)
Car bomb kills policeman in downtown Baghdad
A car bomb went off near a police patrol in downtown Baghdad on Monday, killing a policeman and wounding three others, an Interior Ministry source said.
"A car bomb parking near the Sahat al-Wathiq square in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood detonated near a passing police patrol around midday, killing a policeman and wounding three others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The explosion damaged several nearby civilian cars and buildings, the source said.
Earlier, twin car bombings rocked the same neighborhood, killing up to 10 people and wounding 38 others, the source added.
Daily bombings, gun shootings and kidnappings continued infesting Baghdad streets despite a five-month-old U.S.-Iraqi security plan designed to put down insurgency and sectarian violence in the capital.
Source: Xinhua
Smoke rises after a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada district July 26, 2007. REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud
Truck bombing rips through Baghdad market
U.S. military reports 7 troops dead, over 20 civilians killed
By AP
A relative looks for a medical help for Abdul Wahab Abdul Karim, 50, who got injured as a parked car bomb exploded near a market in the Karradah neighborhood of central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, July 26, 2007. According to a police at least 25 people died and 76 were wounded in the incident. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali )
BAGHDAD — A highly sophisticated simultaneous car bomb and rocket attack devastated a Shiite market district in one of Baghdad’s safest central neighbourhoods on Thursday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 95. The American military announced the deaths of seven U.S. troops.
An explosives-laden garbage truck exploded near a market at about the same time as a Katyusha rocket slammed into a three-storey residential building in the predominantly Shiite Karradah area in Baghdad.
Three columns of smoke billowed into the sky and fires burned on the ground after the thunderous explosion, which set cars and buildings on fire, as the district was packed with shoppers on the eve of the Islamic day of rest.
Police and hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information, said 28 people were killed and 95 wounded.
The officials could not provide a breakdown for each attack because they occurred so close together but said 14 cars were destroyed along with 17 stores selling everything from accessories to falafel sandwiches.
An Iraqi military spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, later blamed Sunni extremists for the rocket attack and said at least 15 people were killed and 84 wounded. He did not mention the car bombing reported by police.
At least 78 killed countrywide
The attack was the deadliest in a series of bombings countrywide as at least 78 people were killed or found dead, a day after two suicide car bombings killed and wounded dozens of revellers celebrating the national team’s semifinal victory in Asia’s top soccer tournament.
Firas Rahim, who sells clothes at a stand near the site of Thursday’s explosion said he saw at least three buildings on fire, with firefighters climbing ladders from their engines to rescue people stuck in their apartments. Many residents were crying as they searched for missing relatives.
“The terrorists, curse them, are behind this act. They are angry because the people were celebrating and happy yesterday. Now they took their revenge,” he said, referring to the jubilation that filled the streets of Baghdad after the soccer team advanced to Sunday’s finals in the Asian Cup.
With five days to go before the end of July, an Associated Press tally showed that at least 1,759 Iraqis were killed in war-related violence through July 26, more than the 1,640 who were reported killed in all of June, a more than seven per cent increase.
Victims of sectarian slayings were also on the rise: at least 723 bodies were found dumped across Iraq so far in July, or an average of nearly 28 a day, compared with 19 a day in June, when 563 bodies were reported found, according to the AP.
At least 28 bodies were found Thursday, most in Baghdad, apparent victims of so-called sectarian death squads usually run by Shiite militias.
Those numbers included civilians, government officials and Iraqi security forces, and are considered only a minimum based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported or uncounted.
Blow to U.S. and Iraqi claims of success
The high casualty figures dealt a blow to U.S. and Iraqi claims of success in stemming the violence as they fight to gain control of the capital and surrounding areas ahead of a pivotal progress report due to be delivered to U.S. Congress in September as legislators are engaged in a fierce debate over calls to bring American troops home.
U.S. troop deaths, meanwhile, were lower so far in July than at any time since the American and Iraqi governments launched a security crackdown on Feb. 12.
The No. 2 commander in Iraq, Lt.-Gen. Ray Odierno, expressed cautious optimism about the downturn.
He said it appeared that casualties had increased as fresh U.S. forces expanded operations into militant strongholds as part of the five-month-old operation aimed at clamping off violence in the capital, but were going down as the Americans gained control of the areas.
“We’ve started to see a slow but gradual reduction in casualties, and it continues in July,” he said at a news conference. “It’s an initial positive sign, but I would argue we need a bit more time to make an assessment whether it’s a true trend.”
Three U.S. marines and a sailor were killed Tuesday in combat in Diyala province, the site of a major military operation against a Sunni insurgent stronghold, according to the military.
It also said two U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad, one in a roadside bombing on Tuesday and another in a gunbattle on Wednesday. Separately, a marine died Sunday in a non-combat related incident in Anbar province.
The deaths raised to at least 64 U.S. troops who have died this month, a relatively low number compared with American death tolls of more than 100 for the previous three months, according to an Associated Press tally based on military statements.
By contrast, the death toll over the months of April, May and June was unusually high. The toll the preceding three months ranged from 81 to 83. In July 2006, the toll was 43.
An Iraqi (L) and U.S. soldiers secure the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, July 23, 2007. At least 10 people, including two policemen, were killed and 28 wounded when two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in different areas of Baghdad's central Karrada district, police said. Up to 20 cars were set ablaze. (Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters)
Wave of violence kills at least 24 people in Iraq on Monday
Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq
A new wave of suicide attacks and car bombings across Iraq killed at least 24 people and wounded some 60 others on Monday, while Baghdad is preparing to host a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran on Iraqi security.
U.S. soldiers secure the site where a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood. At least 24 people were killed on Monday in Iraq, including 12 in two Baghdad car bomb attacks.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)
BAGHDAD, July 23 (Xinhua) -- A new wave of suicide attacks and car bombings across Iraq killed at least 24 people and wounded some 60 others on Monday, while Baghdad is preparing to host a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran on Iraqi security.
A series of car bombings rocked Baghdad in the day, killing at least 17 Iraqis and wounding 57 others, shaping a setback in the five-month U.S. and Iraqi security plan which aimed at curbing insurgency and sectarian violence.
Two car bomb explosions ripped through Baghdad's central neighborhood of Karradah in a quick succession, killing at least 10 people and wounding 38 others.
One of the car bombs was parking near a police headquarters in Karradah neighborhood and the other was near a market in the same neighborhood.
Around midday, a third car bomb struck a police patrol near the Sahat al-Wathiq square in the same neighborhood on the east side of the Tigris River, killing two people and wounding six others, including three policemen.
The explosion damaged several nearby civilian cars and buildings.
Another car bomb went off in the afternoon near an office affiliated to the Iraqi Ministry of Housing in Karradat Mariam district, killing four people and wounding six others.
The explosion occurred just about 400 meters away from an entrance to the Green Zone, a vast area on the west bank of the Tigris River which houses the Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies, including the U.S. embassy.
Earlier in the day, an explosive charge inside a minivan detonated in the morning in the Kifah Street in Baghdad's neighborhood of Fadhel, killing a passenger and wounding seven more.
The Kifah thoroughfare in the Sunni enclave of Fadhel surrounded with Shiite neighborhoods has been the scene of sectarian violence.
In Ramadi, a woman wearing an explosive-belt blew herself up in the al-Shaheed Nawfal police checkpoint in the city of Ramadi and killed all the seven policemen in the site.
The same checkpoint was the target of another suicide attack on Sunday night when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into the checkpoint and blew it up, wounding three policemen.
In addition, the Iraqi police said that its patrols picked up 24 unidentified bodies from Baghdad's streets during the past 24 hours.
The bullet-riddled bodies were bound, blindfolded, showing signs of torture, they said.
Also on Monday, the U.S. military said that three of its soldiers were killed and two others wounded in separate roadside bomb attacks across the country in the past few days.
The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq to more than 3,630 since the outbreak of Iraq war in 2003,according to media count based on Pentagon figures.
The latest wave of violence came as the Iraqi capital prepared to host a second round of talks on Tuesday to discuss the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.
"Iraq will host the second round of U.S.-Iranian talks on the24th of this month," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told reporters on Sunday.
Zebari also expected that the upcoming talks between the two rivals, following up on the first meeting in May, could achieve "tangible results".
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker met his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi on May 28 in Baghdad in an effort to find solutions for Iraqi security problems. However, the landmark meeting ended without substantial achievements.
The U.S. army has frequently accused Iran of arming and training Shiite militia in Iraq, including providing materials of sophisticated armored-piercing bombs. Iran has denied the claims.
U.S. soldiers secure the site where a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood. At least 24 people were killed on Monday in Iraq, including 12 in two Baghdad car bomb attacks.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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