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.”
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