Dozens killed in Iraq attacks

26/09/2007| IslamWeb

At least 57 people have been killed and more than 120 wounded in bomb attacks across Iraq, police have said.

In a mainly Shia district of southwest Baghdad, two car bombs on Wednesday killed about 32 people in one of the deadliest attacks to hit the Iraq capital in weeks.

The bombs detonated shortly before sunset in the district of Bayaa as most residents were preparing for an evening meal to break the day-long fast observed in the month of Ramadan.

Iraq PM's address

In his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, meanwhile said that there was still a long way to go to achieve a stable Iraq.

Al-Maliki said: "We have a long way to achieve our goals for a secure, stable and prosperous Iraq."

"We cautioned all countries in the region that the continued overflow of weapons, money, suicide bombers, and the spreading of 'fatwas' inciting hatred and murder, will only result in disastrous consequences for peoples of the region and the world."

In northern Iraq, a suicide bomber killed 10 people and wounded nine when he struck at the home of a tribal leader opposed to al-Qaeda in Iraq near the town of Sinjar.

Sheikh Kanan al-Juhaimur, the bomber's apparent target, was wounded.

At the start of Ramadan two weeks ago, al-Qaeda in Iraq vowed to escalate attacks and specifically said it would target tribal leaders co-operating with security forces.

Major-General Kevin Bergner, a US military spokesman, said: "This was an increase that was actually expected some weeks ago given past upturns in violence during Ramadan."

He said the number of attacks was down from levels seen last year and roughly in line with 2005.

The main tribal leader working with US forces in Anbar, Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, was killed two weeks ago in a bombing claimed by al-Qaeda. The group said others who co-operated with the United States would share Abu Risha's fate.

More killings

In the city of Mosul, 390km north of Baghdad, residents heard four explosions in one hour on Wednesday.

Police said three people were killed and 47 were wounded when a suicide bomber hit a government building under construction. Most of those killed were construction workers.

Two car bombs at army checkpoints in the east of the city killed one person and wounded two. Police said they killed another would-be suicide bomber and defused his explosives.

In the town of Shirqat, south of Mosul, two car bombs targeting local police killed seven people and wounded five, police said.

A roadside bomb outside a Sunni mosque in the town of Abi Khasib, 8km south of Basra, killed four people, police and a Sunni political party said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister