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Car Bombs Kill 100, Injure Nearly 200 In Iraqi Capital

December 08, 2009

More than 100 people have been killed and almost 200 wounded in a series of apparently coordinated explosions in Baghdad.

The attacks came within quick succession in various central districts of the capital. The dead include both civilians and security personnel.

The powerful bomb blasts shattered a month of relative calm in the capital.

In one attack, a suicide car bomber targeted a police patrol in the southern Dora district, reportedly causing 15 of the deaths. An Interior Ministry official was quoted as saying 12 of the victims were students at a nearby technical college, the remaining three were policemen working at the checkpoint.

Then, at least three car bombs exploded, mostly targeting official buildings, including at least two ministries.

"Civilians and security personnel have definitely been killed. We will announce more details as we have them," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qasim al-Musawi told Reuters.

Reports say sporadic gunfire and the sirens of emergency vehicles were then heard, while television showed massive plumes of smoke.

The blasts are the first large, apparently coordinated explosions in Baghdad since more than 250 people died in similar attacks in August and October. Those attacks included bombings outside the Finance, Foreign, and Justice ministries.

After that, authorities stepped up security outside government buildings, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reports.

Violence has generally fallen across Iraq in the past 18 months, with official figures showing a total of 122 people were killed in November -- the lowest monthly death toll of Iraqi civilians in more than six years.

Today's attacks came as Iraqi officials prepared to announce the date for parliamentary elections.

The Iraqi government and the U.S. military have warned of a rise in attacks in the run-up to the vote expected in February.

with agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Car_Bombs_Rock_Iraqi_Capital_62_Killed/1897948.html

Copyright (c) 2009. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.