Fri, Jun 24, 2005 page7

• Militants strike in heart of Iraq

  CARNAGE In just twelve hours, more than 40 people have been killed in a wave of bombings and assassinations across Iraq, including two giant car bombs in Baghdad

  • AGENCIES
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  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.

  

  An injured man walks away from the scene of explosions in Baghdad, Iraq yesterday. At least two car bombs exploded just after dawn yesterday in Baghdad's middle-class Karada area, a central shopping district. Police reported many casualties.

  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.
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