BAGHDAD, Dec. 13, 2007
Cleanup In Iraq After Deadly Bombings
Death Toll In Shocked Southern City Reduced To 25; Officials Cite Confusion In Aftermath
-
Play CBS Video Video Bombs Mark South Iraq Struggle After a lull, at least 41 people died and many others were wounded in the deadliest attack against Iraqi civilians in four months. It is part of a power struggle in southern Iraq. Jeff Glor reports.
-
Video Deadly Iraq Triple Bombing A triple car-bombing left dozens dead and injured more than 100 in Shiite-dominated southern Iraq, the deadliest attack in months. Jeff Glor reports.
-
Video More To Come In Southern Iraq? Three car-bombings that killed dozens of people in southern Iraq came as British forces are departing the oil-rich region leaving a power vacuum. Susan Roberts reports.
-
-
An injured Iraqi girl is treated by medics from 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment at Patrol Base Murray after a mortar strike injured two girls in the town of Arab Jabour south of Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
-
Iraqi police inspect the scene of a suicide car bomb attack just outside the fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohamed)
-
-
Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
-
Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
Amarah, an oil-rich city about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, has largely escaped the sectarian bloodshed that has plagued Iraq, but some officials fear attacks like Wednesday's could ignite fighting between powerful Shiite factions.
Hospitals in Amarah were crowded with the more than 100 people wounded in the attacks. Relatives filled the hallways and tended to victims, young and old, who were missing arms, legs and suffering from major head wounds.
Provincial authorities, meanwhile, lowered their death toll on Thursday from a high of 41 to at least 25, blaming confusion in the immediate aftermath for the conflicting numbers and cautioning that many of the injuries were serious.
A local police officer at the city's operations room, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information, said 25 were killed and 135 wounded. He said a driving ban imposed Wednesday was only being enforced in the city center near the site of the blast.
Saadoun Sami Hassan, spokesman for the provincial health directorate, said 28 were killed, including one man who died Thursday afternoon, and 150 wounded.
"We expect death toll to rise as most of the wounded suffer serious injures in the heads by the flying shrapnel," Hassan told the Associated Press in a phone interview from Baghdad.
On Thursday, police in the market area where the bombs exploded called out over loudspeakers to ask citizens to watch for anything unusual. Residents cleaned up debris, walking in front of shattered windows and walls pockmarked by flying shrapnel, but government offices and shops were open.
The attack came just days before the British are expected to hand over to local officials control of neighboring Basra province - the last under its domain since the 2003 invasion.
Fears are rising about whether Iraq's mostly Shiite security forces can control Shiite militias competing for power in the oil-rich south, even as U.S. officials report dramatic falls in violence nationwide.
American commanders worry that al Qaeda in Iraq and other extremists might attempt spectacular attacks against Shiite civilians in less-protected areas outside Baghdad - especially where there is little coalition military presence.
No group claimed responsibility for the Amarah explosions, which appeared to be bomb-rigged cars rather than suicide attacks. The blasts occurred minutes apart and seemed to be timed to bring maximum carnage.
CBS News correspondent Jeff Glor reports the blasts follow a recent pattern, in which militants hide multiple devices near one another, to kill people who respond to the initial explosion.
Bystanders rushed to help victims of the first blast, only to be caught in the explosions that followed, police and witnesses said.
Car bombs are the signature weapon of al Qaeda and other Sunni extremists, which are seeking new sanctuaries after being driven out of the Baghdad area. But such groups have had virtually no presence in Amarah and the surrounding Maysan province, where there are few Sunni communities to offer them shelter.
Instead, rival Shiite militias - some believe backed by Iran - pose the biggest security threat in the south. That threat has drawn new attention since Britain announced plans to draw down on its military presence.
British forces handed control of Maysan province to the Iraqis last April. In a few days, Britain is expected to turn over oil-rich Basra, long besieged by militia turf battles.
Before the Wednesday blasts, Amarah and the surrounding province accounted for less than 1 percent of the civilian casualties reported this year, according to a count by The Associated Press.
Khalaf, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said the police chief was fired. A provincial official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the police chief ignored warnings Dec. 4 about possible terrorist attacks in Amarah.
In other developments:
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment
- terrorislam7....
I don''t necessarily disagree with everything you say, but I was wondering if you held up other religions like Christianity to such scrutiny?
All I have to say is thank goodness that society puts Christianity in check we''d be doing some f''d up stuff like the Muslims. - Reply to this comment
- terrorislam7,
When you want to display long a long url, you can go to the website TINYURL.COM, copy the long url in the slot, hit Enter, and you get a smal url to use.
For example, http://tinyurl.com/33vra3 is now the same as
http://islamqa.com/index.php?ref=13759
&ln=eng&txt=before%20islam%20ara
bia%20
pagan - Reply to this comment
- IT IS FASCIST NAZI TERRORISLAM STUPID ?
Posted by terrorislam7
no, but you sure as helll are. - Reply to this comment
- CATCH 22: is a military term is confusing and difficult to describe, this CATCH 22 keeps BUSH in the WAR because a concern for one''s own life prove that he is not really crazy, and to get out of combat you have to be crazy.. It creates situations where, when you think everything is perfect, CATCH 22 pop''s up and makes your plans IMPOSSIBLE....
- Reply to this comment
- As far as Iraq is concerned the administrations efforts were a big success for BIG OIL . They no longer have to deal with Saddam charging higher prices to US oil companies than other countries like China, Russia France & Germany for Iraqi oil, or stopping supplies many times to US oil interests. That thorn in there side is gone. The administration has no intentions of ever leaving Iraq because oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell Oil, Conoco,Chevron, Exxon Mobile and others would be at risk of loosing their leases, manpower equipment.
- Reply to this comment
Mike Huckabee on GOP "rock stars," 2012, health care reform and more.
