Six bombs rocked Baghdad killing at least 35 people yesterday, the second time the capital has come under attack in three days, fueling fears insurgents are making a return due to a political impasse.
The explosions destroyed residential buildings in mostly Shiite neighborhoods, with Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta saying four of the bombs detonated inside the buildings.
“Six bomb attacks in several neighborhoods of Baghdad occurred and seven buildings collapsed,” an interior ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
PHOTO: AFP
The official added that 35 people were killed and 140 wounded.
Ambulance sirens were heard across the city as emergency service workers rushed to the scenes of the blasts and a large plume of smoke rose from near a bombed restaurant in the neighborhood of Allawi, central Baghdad.
A correspondent at the scene said three people managed to climb out of the rubble of the restaurant explosion, despite the old building housing it being completely destroyed. Others were thought to be trapped inside.
Dozens of passersby gathered at the site of the blast, close to a secondary school, to sort through the rubble in a bid to rescue survivors, as military helicopters flew overhead.
Along with the Allawi blast, which destroyed two buildings, two bombs struck Shurta Rabiyah, west Baghdad, while one detonated in Chikouk, which houses a camp for internally-displaced persons in the north of the capital.
Bombs also hit Shuala, north Baghdad, and Al-Amil in the south.
The latest explosions come after three suicide vehicle bombings minutes apart targeting regional and European embassies killed 30 people and wounded more than 200 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, a secret video showing a US aircrew falsely claiming to have encountered a firefight in Baghdad and then laughing at the dead after launching an air strike that killed a dozen people — including two Iraqis working for Reuters — was posted on Wikileaks yesterday.
The footage of the July 2007 attack was made public in a move that will further anger the Pentagon, which has drawn up a report identifying the whistleblower Web Site as a threat to national security.
The US defense department was embarrassed when the confidential report appeared on the Wikileaks site last month alongside a slew of military documents.
The newly released video of the Baghdad attacks was recorded on July 12, 2007. Among the dead were a 22-year-old Reuters photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40.
In the recording, one American claims to have spotted six people with AK-47s and one with a rocket-propelled grenade. It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera. Chmagh is talking on his mobile phone.
One of crew is then heard saying one of the group is shooting at them, but the video shows there is no shooting or even pointing of weapons.
The lead helicopter, using the moniker Crazyhorse, opens fire. “Hahaha. I hit ‘em,” shouts one of the American crew. Another responds a little later: “Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards.”
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