New bombing marks Iraq anniversary
A car bomb has killed two civilians and wounded four more in eastern Baghdad on the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the day after a series of co-ordinated attacks left scores dead, officials said.
A parked car exploded during rush hour in the eastern Zayona neighbourhood, police officials said. A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the casualty figures.
The attack followed a bloody day in Baghdad when insurgents set off a wave of car bombs and other explosions that killed at least 65.
There were almost 20 attacks yesterday, mostly in and around the capital, demonstrating how dangerously divided Iraq remains more than a year after American troops withdrew. More than 240 people were wounded.
It was Iraq’s bloodiest day since September 9 when an onslaught of bombings and shootings killed 92.
Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shiite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.
But insurgents are still able to stage high-profile attacks, while sectarian and ethnic rivalries continue to tear at the fabric of national unity.
The symbolism of yesterday’s attacks was strong, coming 10 years to the day, Washington time, that president George Bush announced the start of hostilities against Iraq. It was already early March 20, 2003, in Iraq when the air strikes began.
The military action quickly ousted Saddam Hussein but led to years of bloodshed as Sunni and Shiite militants fought US forces and each other, leaving nearly 4,500 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis dead.
The apparently co-ordinated attacks around the country included car bombs and explosives stuck to the underside of vehicles. They targeted government security forces and mainly Shiite areas.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Iraqi officials believe al Qaida’s Iraq arm is to blame. The terror group favours car bombs and co-ordinated bombings to undermine public confidence in the government.
It has claimed two large-scale attacks already this month, including an assault on the Justice Ministry in Baghdad last week that left 30 dead.
Sabah al-Nuaman, a spokesman for Iraq’s counter-terrorism services, said al Qaida is trying to exploit political instability in the country.
He also linked the violence to the civil war across the border in Syria, where largely Sunni rebels – some with ties to al Qaida – are trying to topple president Bashar Assad.
The violence started around 8am, when a bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad’s Mashtal neighbourhood, killing four people, according to police and hospital officials.
The deadliest attack was a 10am car bombing near the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Baghdad’s Qahira neighbourhood. Seven people were killed.
Another car bomb exploded outside a restaurant near one of the main gates to the fortified Green Zone, which houses major government offices and the US and British embassies. Six people died, including two soldiers. T
Car bombings, roadside blasts, suicide attacks and other mayhem were reported in other parts of the capital as well as in Taji, Tarmiyah, Baqouba and Iskandiriya. In the northern city of Mosul, a local police commander was killed with two bodyguards by a suicide bomber.
Amid the political tensions, Iraq’s cabinet decided to postpone next month’s local elections in two provinces dominated by Sunnis.
Anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr criticised the decision and threatened to withdraw his support from the government.
“Staying in this government has become harmful and not useful at all,” he said.
