Al-Qaida linked group claims responsibility for police slaughter
Iraqi police suffered two mortal blows today in attacks that left at least 59 people dead and more than 120 injured.
The major attack – a car bomb blast near a Baghdad police station, was claimed by an al-Qaida linked terror group.
The blast ripped through a crowded line of shops and cafes near a police station where many Iraqis had gathered to apply for jobs in the force, killing at least 47 people and wounding 114, officials said.
North-east of the Iraqi, gunmen opened fire on a van carrying policemen back to their station, killing 11 officers and their civilian driver.
The attacks were the latest attempts by insurgents to disrupt efforts to build a strong Iraqi police force capable of taking over security in many towns and cities ahead of nationwide elections due in January.
In Baghdad, the blast left a gaping 10 foot crater and a trail of charred bodies, devastated buildings and gutted cars near the station on Haifa street, an insurgent enclave that has been the scene of fierce clashes with American troops.
Paramedics and residents picked up body parts scattered across the street and put them into boxes. Anguished men lifted bodies burned beyond recognition and lay them gently on stretchers.
Helicopters circled.
Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdel-Rahman said the bomb was placed inside a Toyota vehicle parked near the commercial hub, located a short distance down the road from the police station, which had been closed to traffic.
The group headed by al-Qaida linked Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The website statement, signed by the Tawhid and Jihad group, said: “Thanks to God alone, a lion from the Brigades of Those Seeking Martyrdom succeeded in attacking the centre of volunteers for the renegade police apparatus.”
Mahdi Mohammed, 30, was standing outside his barber shop when the explosion went off.
“It was a horrific scene. Seconds earlier people were drinking tea or eating sandwiches and then I could see their remains hanging from trees,” he said. “I could see burning people running in all directions.”
“This is a crime committed against innocent people who needed to find work to feed their hungry children,” said Alaa Khamas, a kebab vendor. He said he saw a man who had just bought a falafel from him killed by a flying car wheel
Angry crowds of young men pumped their fists in the air and denounced President George Bush and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, saying the had failed to protect Iraqis. “Bush is a dog,” they chanted.
“Such places were targeted before,” said Ali Abul-Amir, who was among those trying to join the force but had gone around the corner to buy a drink when the explosion went off.
“I blame Ayad Allawi’s government for what happened because they did not take the necessary security measures,” he said.
Others, however, directed their anger at the militants.
“Such acts cannot be considered part of the resistance (against American forces). This is not a Jihad, they are not Mujahdeen,” said Amir Abdel Hassan, a 41-year-old teacher. “Iraq is not a country, it’s a big graveyard,” he added.
In the eastern city of Baqouba, where 68 people were killed in July in a bomb attack on a police recruiting centre, gunmen in two cars opened fire on a minibus killing 11 policemen and their driver
They were returning to their station after they were told that a trip to a training camp had been postponed.
The US. Military said policemen killed were members of the Criminals Investigation Divisions, which investigates internal crimes in the police.
Attacks on Iraqi security forces and police officers – consider to be collaborators by militants – have left hundreds of people dead since insurgents began a 17 month campaign to expel coalition forces and destabilise Allawi’s government.
Meanwhile, saboteurs blew up a junction where multiple oil pipelines cross the Tigris River in northern Iraq today, setting off a chain reaction in power generation systems that left the entire country without power.
Firefighters struggled to put out the blaze after the attack near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.
Crude oil cascaded down the hillside into the river. Fire burned on top of the water, fuelled by the gushing oil.
