Bomb Attack Near Baghdad University Kills 65
16 January 2007
A double bomb attack near a university in Baghdad has killed at least 65 people and wounded more than 100 others - on one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in weeks.
Iraqi officials say a car bomb went off Tuesday followed by a suicide bomb attack as students were leaving the Mustansiriya university at the end of classes.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki blamed the attack on what he called "terrorists and Saddamists." He linked the bombings to the executions on Monday of two former officials from Saddam Hussein's ousted government.
At least 29 people were killed in other attacks in and around Baghdad, including back-to-back bombings near a Sunni mosque.
The U.S. military says a roadside bombing killed four American soldiers Monday in northern Iraq.
A new United Nations report says more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in violence across the country last year.
At a news conference in Baghdad Tuesday, top U.N. official Gianni Magazzeni said that more than 36,000 civilians were wounded in 2006. The figures are much higher than Iraqi government estimates.
Magazzeni said the U.N. figures were compiled from information obtained through the Iraqi Health Ministry, hospitals across the country, and other agencies.
He said the situation is particularly grave in Baghdad, where most casualties and unidentified bodies are recorded daily.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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