Nearly 40 people have died in a rash of car bombings in Iraq's capital over a 12-hour span, including two coordinated blasts early yesterday that killed 15 and wounded 28 more in a central Baghdad shopping district, police said.
The attacks served as a chilling reminder of how potent militants remain in the capital despite around-the-clock US and Iraqi troop patrols.
Thursday's carnage in the capital's Karradah area came on the heels of bloodshed late Wednesday that included four car bombs exploding within minutes of each other. At least 23 people were killed in western Baghdad's Shula neighborhood and a nearby suburb. Nineteen were killed in Shula alone.
PHOTO: AP
Most residents of Karradah and Shula are from Iraq's Shiite majority, while the insurgents are almost exclusively Sunni Arabs, a minority that had dominated Iraq until Saddam Hussein's ouster two years ago.
The explosions on both days were carried out at times when large crowds are on the capital's streets. Wednesday night's bombs came hours before an 11pm curfew when many residents are out at eateries or chatting on the streets before locking themselves inside their homes.
Yesterday's twin explosions took place when many are just beginning their daily routines. The attacks in Karradah happened nearly simultaneously, police Lieutenant Colonel Salman Abdul Karim and officer Ahmed Hatam al-Sharie said. Five police officers were among the 15 dead.
A young boy, his left leg missing from below the knee, sat on the sidewalk near a mangled bicycle, screaming as a man tried to comfort him. The force of the blasts blew off store shutters, and the surrounding sidewalks were covered with debris, including shattered glass, concrete slabs and charred vegetables and fruit.
A few trees were toppled, scattering leaves on the sidewalk.
Separately, a car bomb detonated by remote control hit an Iraqi police patrol in Tuz Khormato, north of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding seven civilians, police Brigadier General Sarhad Qadr said. Tuz Khormato is 88km south of the northern city of Kirkuk.
In all, at least 32 people were killed Wednesday across Iraq, including a prominent Sunni law professor assassinated by gunmen. Jassim al-Issawi was a former judge who put his name forward at one point to join the committee drafting Iraq's constitution.
Al-Issawi's killing, potentially the most politically significant act of violence since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari came to office nearly two months ago, marked the first direct attempt to scare moderates away from political participation.
Insurgents bent on starting a civil war to overthrow Iraq's US-backed government have maintained nearly eight weeks of relentless attacks, killing more than 1,240 people since April 28, when al-Jaafari announced his Shiite-dominated government.
Al-Issawi, thought to be 50, was shot dead with his son, according to Abdul-Sattar Jawad, editor-in-chief of Al-Siyadah, a daily newspaper where the lawyer was a contributing editor.
Leaders of the Sunni Arab minority also condemned al-Issawi's assassination, linking it to what they said was a plan to eliminate key minority figures ahead of the crucial task of writing the country's basic law.
Meanwhile, an explosion slightly damaged a Japanese military vehicle near the southern Iraqi city of Samawa yesterday, but no troops were injured, Japan's top government spokesman said.
If an attack is confirmed, it would be the first one aimed at Japanese troops outside camp. The Japanese camp has been struck by rockets several times, but there have been no casualties.
Four military vehicles were on their way to conduct reconstruction work when they encountered "some kind of explosion" at around 9:02am local time, damaging the windscreen of one, a Japanese official said.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS