Twin suicide car bombs blamed on al-Qaeda shattered the justice ministry and a provincial office in Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 136 people and sparking turmoil in the embattled Iraqi capital.
About 600 people were wounded in the near-simultaneous attacks at about 10:30am that left buildings in ruins and streets littered with charred bodies and torn-off limbs.
The blasts, which the government said had al-Qaeda’s “signature,” also destroyed dozens of cars and smashed water pipes, spewing dirty water into the bloodied streets.
Authorities closed off roads leading to the bomb sites as fire trucks and ambulances struggled through thick traffic to reach the blazing buildings.
One of the attacks occurred at a busy intersection near the justice and municipalities ministries, while the other was opposite the nearby Baghdad provincial government offices in the Salhiyeh neighborhood.
At least 136 people were killed and 600 injured, according to a tally of tolls from four hospitals in central Baghdad — al-Karama, Ibn Nafis, Medical City and Yarmuk.
Shortly after the attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited the site of the Salhiyeh bombing, and spoke to officials and security officers but made no statement.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the attacks could be targeting upcoming parliamentary elections in January and said they had “the fingerprints of al-Qaeda and its allies.”
Haidar Assem, an employee of the ministry of municipalities, said he awoke to find himself in al-Karama hospital, his head bandaged and his shirt covered in blood.
“I was busy working when there was a massive explosion,” the 30-year-old engineer said. “My colleagues fell down all around me, the office became completely dark and then I found myself in the hospital.”
Thick smoke billowed over the stricken area and fires could be seen from two buildings whose windows had been shattered by the force of the blasts, which was felt for several kilometers across Baghdad.
Rescue workers in Salhiyeh had to cover dead bodies in blankets before picking them up because they were too hot to touch, a reporter said.
The explosions were a grim reminder of deadly truck bombings that shook the ministries of foreign affairs and finance on Aug. 19 and killed about 100 people.
Baghdad blamed those attacks on supporters of the Baath party of executed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, who the government said were given safe haven in neighboring Syria.
That incident saw a dramatic deterioration of ties between the neighboring countries, with Maliki throwing fuel on the fire by alleging that 90 percent of foreign militants who infiltrate Iraq do so via Syria.
Talks between officials of the two countries brokered by Turkey have failed to defuse tensions, with Iraqi officials accusing their Syrian counterparts of “lack of seriousness.”
PATROL PARTNERS: The ‘Chiayi’ and the ‘Penghu’ departed for a two-day joint patrol of Palau’s exclusive economic zone, the CGA’s second diplomatic visit to the country The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) set a record for its southernmost deployment of a coast guard vessel as the vessels Chiayi and the Penghu reached Palau’s Pulo Anna Island on Saturday in a cooperative exercise between the two countries. The island, about 217 nautical miles (401km) southwest of Koror in the Palauan state of Sonsorol and 1,220 nautical miles from Taiwan’s southernmost point, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), is the furthest south a CGA vessel has sailed. The two vessels are in Palau for the coast guard’s second diplomatic visit to the country. They docked at Malakal Harbor on Tuesday last week. The coast guard
The government is monitoring online rumors that a pneumonic plague outbreak has spread from Russia into China, and it might enhance quarantine measures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During a legislative meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said that rumors had circulated that the disease had spread across several Chinese provinces. He asked Cho whether the government was prepared to prevent the disease spreading to Taiwan, given the volume of traffic between the two sides, and how concerned the government was about the alleged outbreak. The Ministry of Health and Welfare had implemented border quarantine measures after briefing the Executive
EAST OF GUAM: Tropical Storm Champi is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon, but its effect on Taiwan is uncertain due to the presence of a high-pressure system Tropical Storm Champi formed yesterday and has the potential to increase in strength, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Forecasters are closely monitoring a Pacific high-pressure system that would dictate whether the storm turns north or moves toward Taiwan next week, the CWA said. The most likely scenario is that it turns northward after passing the Ryukyu Islands, CWA forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen (鄭傑仁) said. As of 8pm yesterday, Champi was east of Guam moving west-northwest at 20kph, CWA data showed. It had maximum sustained winds near the center of 72kph and gusts of up to 101kph, the data showed. If the Pacific high-pressure system
RIGHT TO DIPLOMACY: Under the UN Charter, every state has the right to conduct foreign policy free from external pressure, Belize said in a statement Belize and Paraguay on Monday condemned Beijing sanctions over their countries’ ties with Taiwan, saying China’s actions create unnecessary tensions. Earlier on Monday, Beijing announced sanctions against Paraguayan Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Gustavo Villate and Belizean Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca. The Paraguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it rejected the sanctions, writing on X that they created unnecessary friction. It added that it reaffirmed its support for Taiwan and its commitment to democratic values and principles. Villate told the Spanish-language Paraguayan daily ABC Color the sanctions were “predictable” and linked them to several cooperation projects between Taiwan and Paraguay. The projects
RSS