SUICIDE BOMB: A fuel truck burns at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Baghdad August 1. A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people and wounded 60 after luring motorists to a fuel truck near a petrol station in Baghdad's western Mansour district, police said.(REUTERS)
Baghdad truck bombs kill 69
From correspondents in Baghdad
August 01, 2007 11:07pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
THREE large bombs tore through crowded Baghdad districts today, killing at least 69 people, as government figures revealed Iraq's civilian death toll jumped by more than one third in July.
In the largest blast, a truck bomb detonated near a petrol station in west Baghdad, setting fire to a huge fuel tank and killing at least 50 people and wounding at least 60 more, according to security officials.
A US military spokeswoman said that Iraqi and American soldiers were at the scene and that initial reports were that a 26,500 litre fuel tank had exploded.
She could not confirm the death toll.
Hours earlier a car bomb ripped through a busy Baghdad shopping district, killing at least 16 Iraqis and wounding 14, according to Brigadier General Qassim Atta, an Iraqi army spokesman for Baghdad security operations.
The blast erupted near the Karrada Harij electronics market at a crossroads known for the popular Al-Fiqma ice cream store, sending a dull boom echoing across the city and sending a plume of smoke skywards.
Iraqi forces sealed off the area, as residents and ambulances ferried the dead and dying to city hospitals.
Ten of the bodies were taken to Ibn Nafees hospital following the explosion and 25 people, including women, were wounded, a hospital official said.
There was no word on who might have planted the bomb, but the area is known as a stronghold of supporters of Shiite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim and previous attacks of this kind have been blamed on Sunni extremists.
A third car bomb went off in the southern neighbourhood of Dura, one of Baghdad's most notorious districts, killing three more people and wounding another five, according to security officials.
Separately a roadside bomb damaged and set fire to a US army Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, an armoured troop transporter patrolling in the Al-Amin neighbourhood of southeast Baghdad, witnesses said.
The military confirmed the attack, but could not say if troops were hurt.
The blasts came as new numbers released by three government ministries revealed that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in the country's brutal civil conflict rose by more than a third in July.
The spike came despite a five-month-old surge in US troop levels designed to stabilise the capital to allow Iraq's politicians space to hammer out crucial political agreements to stem the country's sectarian bloodshed.
At least 1652 civilians were killed in Iraq in July, 33 per cent more than in the previous month, according to figures compiled by the Iraqi health, defence and interior ministries and made available to AFP.
Meanwhile, the US military said four more US troops were killed yesterday, bringing US losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3653, with 83 troops killed in July, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
Separately, the British ministry of defence confirmed that another of its soldiers had been killed by a bomb attack in the southern city of Basra yesterday, bringing to 164 the number to have died in Iraq.
US casualties declined after the first deadly three months of the surge as more troops moved from carrying out large-scale assaults on previously unsecured areas to manning combat outposts and policing the streets.
Wisam Sami/Associated Press
Above, a fuel truck was detonated in a suicide attack today in Baghdad.
================
Black Jack Soldiers respond to car bomb
By Multi-National Division - Baghdad PAO
Aug 2, 2007 - 2:41:19 PM
Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded in the Sheik Junaid neighborhood of Baghdad Aug. 1 killing 50 people.
Another 60 were wounded by the explosion at the Al Mansoor fuel station, which caused a massive fire after igniting one of the 7,000 gallon fuel tanks.
Soldiers from the 4th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd "Black Jack" Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division responded to the explosion from their nearby joint security station, along with elements of the Iraqi army and Iraqi National Police.
Morris said that Coalition and Iraqi Forces quickly restored order in the area while firefighters began working to put out the blaze.
The incident is still under investigation.
================
Scores killed in Baghdad blasts
Police say a bomber detonated explosives in Mansour after luring motorists to his fuel tanker [Reuters]
More than 70 people are dead and around 80 people injured after four separate bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital.
A fuel tanker rigged with explosives killed at least 50 people on Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated it near a fuel station in Baghdad's western Mansour district.
Around 60 more were injured by the blast, police said.
Police believe the bomber lured motorists queueing for petrol to his fuel tanker, and then detonated the explosives.
Later on Wednesday, a road side car bomb went off in the al-Harithiya area, killing one person.
Another bomber killed three in southern Doura district.
Elsewhere, at least 20 people were left dead when a parked car bomb exploded at Hurriya Square in the busy central district of Karrada.
Frequent target
Thirty-two people were injured in the blast in the mainly Shia district which occurred near a petrol station and an ice-cream shop.
The blast set cars on fire and left bodies strewn across the street.
Karrada, on the eastern side of the Tigris river, has been the target of several bombs in recent weeks.
Iraqi Sunni bloc quits coalition
The latest attacks in Baghdad come as new figurers show at least 1,652 civilians were killed in Iraq in July, one-third more than in the previous month.
According to figures compiled from three Iraqi ministries, July's toll is also slightly higher than the number for February, AFP news agency said.
February saw the launch of a US troop "surge" aimed at reducing sectarian violence in the country.
In that month, 1,626 civilians were killed according to the ministries' figures.
In June, 1,241 were killed, prompting hope that the troop reinforcements were having an effect, but July's figure represents a 33 per cent increase in the number of deaths.
Reconciliation
A senior US military official has said that the deployment of US troops has improved security in Iraq to some degree but that the country's future is jeopardised by the failure of Iraqi leaders to forge political reconciliation.
Navy Admiral Michael Mullen told a senate hearing that security on the ground in Iraq is "not great, but better".
But Mullen said the US military effort could succeed only if Iraqis struck a compromise to defuse sectarian divisions.
"Barring that, no amount of troops and no amount of time will make much of a difference," he said.
Mullen is expected to be approved as the most senior military adviser to George Bush, the US president.
Mullen also said that an early withdrawal of US troops could turn Iraq into a "cauldron".
Source: Agencies
Bombs rock Baghdad as unity government crumbles
Joseph Krauss
AFP
August 1, 2007
BAGHDAD -- Thunderous car bomb blasts echoed around Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least 70 people, as Iraq's national unity coalition collapsed under the weight of sectarian tensions.
New government figures also revealed that civilian deaths in the country rose by one-third last month, dealing a further blow to a five-month-old security plan designed to stabilize Baghdad and allow for reconciliation.
Three large bombs tore through crowded districts of the capital, leaving at least 70 people dead and feeding the communal bitterness that has undermined Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki's US-backed government.
In the largest blast, a truck bomb detonated near a filling station in the west of the city, setting fire to a huge fuel tank, killing at least 50 people and wounding at least 60 more, Iraqi security officials said.
A medic at the nearby Yarmuk Hospital said that the emergency room struggled to cope with the wave of incoming wounded.
"There were not many lightly injured people, everyone had medium or severe burns. Some of them got beds, but others had to lie on the floor and some were given first aid then sent on to other hospitals," he said.
Earlier a car bomb ripped through a busy shopping district, killing at least 16 Iraqis and wounding 14, according to Brigadier General Qassim Atta, an Iraqi army spokesman for Baghdad.
The blast near the Karrada Harij electronics market at a crossroads known for the popular Fiqma ice-cream store sent a dull boom echoing across the city and a plume of smoke skywards. There was no word on who might have planted the bomb, but the area is known as a stronghold of supporters of Shiite leader Abdel Aziz Al Hakim, and previous attacks of this kind have been blamed on Sunni extremists.
A third car bomb in the southern neighborhood of Dura, one of Baghdad's most notorious districts, killed three more people and wounded another five, according to security officials.
Two off-duty Iraqi policemen were shot dead when gunmen ambushed their car in the Saydiya neighborhood in southwest Baghdad, a security official said.
As the explosions rumbled across the city, ministers from the Concord Front, Iraq's largest Sunni bloc, resigned from the ruling coalition and effectively ended its claim to be a government of national unity.
"The Front announces its withdrawal from the government of Nuri Al Maliki and the deputy prime minister and the ministers will submit their resignation today," said Rafie Al Issawi, minister of state for foreign affairs. Issawi made the announcement at a news conference inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone as Sunni Vice-President Tarek Al Hashemi and other senior members of the bloc stood behind him.
Hashemi will remain vice-president and the bloc's 44 parliamentarians will return to the National Assembly in September after its summer recess, when they will swell the already growing ranks of the opposition.
The Front has accused the government of failing to rein in Shiite militias and of the arbitrary arrest and detention of Sunnis, but Wednesday leaders seemed to leave the door open for future discussions.
"Our central and historic goal is reform. We will reconsider the withdrawal tomorrow if they review our demands," Hashemi said.
The decision comes at a time when Maliki's government is under intense pressure to make use of the space afforded by a five-month-old "surge" of US troops to hammer out political agreements between the rival factions.
But with parliament having gone on holiday without passing any of the benchmark reforms demanded by Washington, it is unlikely that any progress will be made ahead of September's progress report to the US Congress on the surge.
"Democracy is never easy," US embassy spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters. "It is certainly not easy with the problems that face Iraq. These are things that Iraqi political leaders need to grapple with."
"In Iraq it's very hard ... They have to get through these very difficult challenges. It is frustrating? Absolutely. It's frustrating for us. It's frustrating for them and it's frustrating for the Iraqi government."
In a further blow to the surge, numbers released by government ministries Wednesday revealed that the number of Iraqi civilians killed in the country's brutal civil conflict rose by more than one-third in July.
At least 1,652 civilians were killed in Iraq in July, 33 percent more than in the previous month, according to figures compiled by the Iraqi health, defense, and interior ministries.
Meanwhile, the US military said that four more troops were killed Tuesday, bringing US losses since the March 2003 invasion to 3,653, with 83 killed in July.
Separately, Britain confirmed that another of its soldiers had been killed by a bomb in the southern city of Basra Tuesday, bringing to 164 the number to have died in Iraq.
Fuel bomb causes carnage in Baghdad
Aljazeera.net
August 1, 2007
More than 70 people are dead and around 80 people injured after four separate bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital.
A fuel truck rigged with explosives killed at least 50 people on Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated it near a fuel station in Baghdad's western Mansour district.
Around 60 more were injured by the blast, police said.
Police believe the bomber lured motorists queueing for petrol to his truck, and then detonated the explosives.
Later on Wednesday, a road side car bomb went off in the al-Harithiya area, killing one person.
Another bomber killed three in southern Doura district.
Elsewhere, at least 20 people were left dead when a parked car bomb exploded at Hurriya Square in the busy central district of Karrada.
Frequent target
Thirty-two people were injured in the blast in the mainly Shia district which occurred near a petrol station and an ice-cream shop.
The blast set cars on fire and left bodies strewn across the street.
Karrada, on the eastern side of the Tigris river, has been the target of several bombs in recent weeks.
The latest attacks in Baghdad come as new figurers show at least 1,652 civilians were killed in Iraq in July, one-third more than in the previous month.
According to figures compiled from three Iraqi ministries, July's toll is also slightly higher than the number for February, AFP news agency said.
February saw the launch of a US troop "surge" aimed at reducing sectarian violence in the country.
In that month, 1,626 civilians were killed according to the ministries' figures.
In June, 1,241 were killed, prompting hope that the troop reinforcements were having an effect, but July's figure represents a 33 per cent increase in the number of deaths.
Reconciliation
A senior US military official has said that the deployment of US troops has improved security in Iraq to some degree but that the country's future is jeopardised by the failure of Iraqi leaders to forge political reconciliation.
Navy Admiral Michael Mullen told a senate hearing that security on the ground in Iraq is "not great, but better".
But Mullen said the US military effort could succeed only if Iraqis struck a compromise to defuse sectarian divisions.
"Barring that, no amount of troops and no amount of time will make much of a difference," he said.
Mullen is expected to be approved as the most senior military adviser to George Bush, the US president.
Mullen also said that an early withdrawal of US troops could turn Iraq into a "cauldron".
:: Article nr. 34976 sent on 01-aug-2007 17:40 ECT
www.uruknet.info?p=34976
Link: english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/557B1B45-A79A-4D11-9889-31BFF0D4CB87.htm
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