BAGHDAD, June 17, 2008
Baghdad Calm Shattered By Deadly Bombing
Deadliest Car Bombing In 3 Months Rips Through Market, Killing More Than 50 People
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U.S.-allied fighters collect the body of their comrade, who was killed by a suicide bomber in northern Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. A suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck their checkpoint at about 10 a.m., killing one and wounding four, officials said, in the latest attack targeting Sunni groups that have turned against al Qaeda in Iraq. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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A member of a U.S.-allied awakening group is treated for his wounds after a suicide bombing in northern Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
Many victims were trapped in their apartments by a raging fire that engulfed at least one building, according to police and Interior Ministry officials, who also said about 75 people were wounded. Stunned survivors stumbled through the rubble-strewn street, which was filled with the smoke from burning vehicles, witnesses said.
The attack shattered the relative calm in the capital since a May 11 cease-fire ended seven weeks of fighting between U.S. and Iraqi forces and Shiite militants in the Sadr City district. Ironically, it came the same day the Iraqi parliament announced plans to move outside the U.S.-protected Green Zone.
Angry survivors blamed the army and police for failing to protect them.
"The blast occurred because there wasn't any security presence by the Iraqi army or police at the scene, not even any checkpoint," said Khalid Hassan, 40, who suffered shrapnel wounds and burns. "People were confused, upset and running in all directions. We are all victims of terrorism and carelessness."
The bomber struck about 5:45 p.m. near a market and bus stop in the Hurriyah district of west Baghdad, scene of some of the most horrific sectarian massacres during the wave of Sunni-Shiite slaughter in 2006.
Kamil Jassim, a witness, said the blast set fire to a generator used by residents and shopkeepers to supplement city power. The fire quickly spread to a two-story building containing both shops and apartments where many of the victims were found.
Haider Fadhil, a 25-year-old metal worker, said he was shopping with two friends when the blast hurled him to the ground.
"When I regained consciousness, I found that my left hand and leg were broken," Fadhil said from his bed in a nearby hospital, where anguished families wept as they jammed the waiting rooms. "Thanks be to God for saving me and thanks to those who carried me in their pickup truck to the hospital."
The blast was the deadliest attack in Baghdad since March 6, when a pair of bombs detonated in the mostly Shiite district of Karradah, killing 68 people and wounding about 120.
No group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's blast, and both Sunni and Shiite militants have used car bombs in their attacks.
U.S. officials said American soldiers were attending a meeting of a neighborhood action committee about 150 yards from the blast site but it was unclear if they were the target.
"This is a senseless and tragic event," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Baghdad command. "What's to gain by terrorizing the population? ...This is simply an evil act."
U.S. commanders have warned repeatedly that the relative peace in Baghdad is fragile because extremists, including al Qaeda in Iraq and Shiite militant groups, remain capable of high-profile attacks.
The Americans hope that security measures are enough to prevent extremists from mounting a sustained campaign of bombings against civilians that could provoke a return to sectarian reprisal attacks.
Despite the uncertainty, Iraqi officials have been eager to promote a sense of confidence among the war-weary Iraqi people after months of declining bloodshed in the capital.
Deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah told lawmakers Tuesday that they will move from the convention center in the Green Zone to the Saddam Hussein-era National Assembly building for their next legislative term, which begins Sept. 1.
The move could help parliament affirm its independence from the Americans and shed its public image as an institution isolated from its people inside the U.S.-protected enclave.
"There is progress in the security situation and the reconstruction has been completed of the new building," al-Attiyah said, adding the new accommodations will be large enough for the full 275-member legislature and staff members.
The National Assembly building was used by the Iraqi parliament under Saddam and is located in the Allawi district, a religiously mixed area about 500 yards from the blast walls that form the perimeter of the Green Zone on the west side of the Tigris River.
It was looted and burned during the chaos that followed the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces in April 2003. But al-Attiyah said its reconstruction has been completed.
In other developments:
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 330 Comments
- Has Iraq turned another corner?
Bring our Soldiers home, we do not belong there! - Reply to this comment
- hoseobama,,, Mail order degrees from Oral Roberts University ???
Posted by j-whitman at 11:59 PM : Jun 17, 2008
Now that sounds like something Larry Craig would major in... - Reply to this comment
- vnveteran72,,,, Hose isn''''t playing with a full deck
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Posted by j-whitman at 12:06 AM : Jun 18, 2008
+ report abuse
His "Multiple Degrees" and "Certifications", must have been purchased online from one of those Document Houses in India......LMMFAO...."Hello, I''m Dr. Cletus Clodhopper, Professor Emeritus of Mobilhome-ology, Certified in "Above-Ground Cement Ponds and Shingle Nailin''"..... - Reply to this comment
- vnveteran72,,,, Hose isn''t playing with a full deck
- Reply to this comment
- Wrong again, vnveteran72. I have multiple degrees and two certifications you couldn''''t have a clue about.
No doubt you''''ll have ''''fun'''' with that - but that would be your station in life. Acting like a child.
adios.
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Posted by hoseobama at 11:57 PM : Jun 17, 2008
+ report abuse
Sure you do, Hosey,.....I have no doubt of it......
LMMFAO...... - Reply to this comment
- One of the main problems McBush won''t address on the issue is current production cuts to drive up speculation.
- Reply to this comment
- hoseobama,,, Mail order degrees from Oral Roberts University ???
- Reply to this comment
- hoseobama,,,, No problem, & the Gulf isn''t the only place, Indian Reservations have plenty, problem there is royalties.
http://rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=63055 - Reply to this comment
- Wrong again, vnveteran72. I have multiple degrees and two certifications you couldn''t have a clue about.
No doubt you''ll have ''fun'' with that - but that would be your station in life. Acting like a child.
adios. - Reply to this comment
- vnveteran72 - when you have something worthwhile to say, get back to me, ok.
Right now, you''re being a bore.
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Posted by hoseobama at 11:24 PM : Jun 17, 2008
+ report abuse
I can''t imagine what it must be like to be such a Clueless Authoritarian *** Gobbler such as yourself.
Perhaps in time, you''ll seek that ever elusive GED, and awaken from your Stupified Trance.........
but I kind of Doubt it........LMMFAO....... - Reply to this comment
- j-whitman, please send me your rigzone source. I''d like to read it for myself. I went to their site and could not find your article, after searching on ''gull'' in their site search tool.
I''m intrigued by your article claiming all this oil when the Senate was willing to sue OPEC for NOT producing. - Reply to this comment
- vnveteran72 - when you have something worthwhile to say, get back to me, ok.
Right now, you''re being a bore. - Reply to this comment
- "hoseobama,,, You meen Keep begging OPEC ??? That''''s no solution - They have yet to agree to help in Iraq. - Posted by j-whitman
What part of the Senate sueing OPEC don''t you understand ? YOU are the one that is making it sound like we''d ask them for more oil.
The Republican party is the party that has been trying to get more oil independent. The Democratic party is the one that has consistently stopped us from drilling when it was needed.
Get a clue - YOU Democrat - ME Republican.
Your party is the one that has made the US dependent on foreign oil. Accept responsibility for yor actions. - Reply to this comment
- vnveteran72 - I''''ve always maintained that once a person starts name calling, he''''s admitting defeat.
Thanks for the admission of defeat.
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Posted by hoseobama at 11:11 PM : Jun 17, 2008
+ report abuse
HA!!!...You''re such a Laughable Little Neocon Toady...
You have NO rebuttles, NO proof, NO References, only accusations that you pull out of your azz......
too funny......Dismissed, "Hosey".......LMMFAODA..... - Reply to this comment
- hoseobama,,, You meen Keep begging OPEC ??? That''s no solution - They have yet to agree to help in Iraq.
- Reply to this comment
- Excerpt from article that bears repeating:
The senior civilian official who managed the military''s largest contract in Iraq says he was reassigned in 2004 when he refused to approve more than $1 billion in charges to KBR until the Houston company provided credible spending records, The New York Times reported. "They had a gigantic amount of costs they couldn''t justify," retired Army official Charles M. Smith told the Times in a story posted on its Web site Monday night. "Ultimately, the money that was going to KBR was money being taken away from the troops, and I wasn''t going to do that." - Reply to this comment
- vnveteran72 - I''ve always maintained that once a person starts name calling, he''s admitting defeat.
Thanks for the admission of defeat. - Reply to this comment
- Actually I''''m reading RIGZONE.com, Your gateway to the oil & gas industry
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Posted by j-whitman at 11:08 PM : Jun 17, 2008
+ report abuse
Sorry....Not affiliated with Rush or Faux???......
Doesn''t Exist......LMMFAO..... - Reply to this comment
- j-whitman - so all of this oil that is available - why isn''t it being made available.
(here''s where he says big oil is stopping it.)
Funny that the Senate didn''t demand that the oil companies start making it available. Or, why did they recently sue OPEC for not producing.
Your BS stores can''t hold water with even the most casual observations. Typical Obama believer - willingly sips the kool-aid. - Reply to this comment
- Actually I''m reading RIGZONE.com, Your gateway to the oil & gas industry
- Reply to this comment
