40 killed in Baghdad as bombers target mosque and market
Baku, June 24 (AZERTAC). AT LEAST 40 people were killed when four bombs ripped through Shi’ite areas of Baghdad last night — the worst violence the capital has seen in months — Iraqi officials said.
The violence underscored the fragile nature of the security gains in Iraq at a time when US forces are preparing to withdraw by the end of this year and the challenges facing the state department personnel and US contractors who would stay on after the US military is gone.
The first three bombs went off in quick succession in an area of south-western Baghdad shortly after 7pm local time.
One targeted a Shi’ite mosque, another exploded just outside a popular market, while the third went off inside the market where people were doing their evening shopping ahead of the Muslim weekend, Iraqi police officials said.
The officials said 34 people died and 82 others were injured in the three blasts. An official from Baghdad’s Yarmouk hospital confirmed the casualty figures.
About one hour later, a parked car bomb targeting a police patrol killed six people, including one policeman and five bystanders in a different area of south-western Baghdad, hospital officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Sunni extremists such as al-Qaida in Iraq generally tend to target Shi’ite mosques, neighborhoods and Iraqi security forces.
Iraqi police officials in eastern Baghdad said a bomb exploded near foreign security company vehicles travelling through eastern Baghdad early in the afternoon, killing one foreigner in the convoy and injuring three other people.
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