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At least 61 dead in Iraq bombings
By: cnn.comPosted On: 04/23/2010 12:05 P
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A wave of bombings targeting Shiites, a market in Baghdad and a neighborhood in Anbar province killed at least 61 people and wounded more than 100 others Friday, police said.
A wave of bombings targeting Shiites, a market in Baghdad and a neighborhood in Anbar province killed at least 61 people and wounded more than 100 others Friday, police said.
The strikes conjured memories of the bloodshed that once engulfed both the capital city and the vast province every day.
No one has claimed responsibility yet for the string of attacks, but authorities believe such coordinated bombings bear the hallmarks of al Qaeda in Iraq.
The bombings come days after Iraqi and U.S. officials announced that they had killed the two most wanted al Qaeda leaders in the country. While the deaths hurt the insurgents, military officials don't discount insurgents' continued ability to carry out attacks.
The strikes occur during the delay in the formation of a government, and many observers fear that a political vacuum could portend an increase in violence, such as the sectarian bloodshed that took place in early 2006 while the government was being formed.
Two car bombs targeted worshipers in Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, killing 39 and wounding 56 people.
Eight people died and 23 were wounded when a car bomb and a roadside bomb detonated outside Muhsin al-Hakim mosque in southeastern Baghdad.
In the northwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Hurriya, a car bomb explosion outside Hadi al-Chalabi mosque killed five people and wounded 10.
A roadside bomb explosion outside the Sadreen mosque in the Zafaraniya neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad killed two people and wounded seven.
One person was killed and six people were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in an outdoor market in the southern Baghdad district of Dora.
A car bomb exploded outside one of Muqtada al-Sadr's offices in Sadr City, wounding five people. A car bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque in Ameen neighborhood in southeastern Baghdad, wounding two people.
West of Baghdad, in the Anbar province town of Khaldiya, six people were killed and 10 were wounded when six roadside bombs exploded in a residential area where a police officer and a judge lived. Authorities imposed a curfew.
Earlier this week, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, the spokesman for the Baghdad Military Operations Command, boasted about the killings of insurgent leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.
He said security forces must capitalize on this "great victory" but cautioned about the possibility of reprisals.
Talking about the Iraqi-U.S. joint operation Sunday that killed the two leaders, Atta said:
"We had information that they were planning attacks that would target churches, Shiite mosques and bridges, and the security forces took precautions and prepared security plans specifically for this."
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