PittsburghAfterDark
CAGiversary!
I expect a whole lot of outrage since civillian deaths mean more than a soldier's death.
C'mon guys, show your true stripes.
By Sami Jumaili
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed at least 110 people and wounded more than 200 in the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi on Thursday, the second consecutive day of concerted insurgent attacks.
Another three bombs exploded in Baghdad, two of them detonated by suicide bombers, and a roadside bomb targeted a U.S convoy near the southern Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, destroying a Humvee and killing at least two civilians.
Coming a day after 58 people died in a wave of bombings and shootings, the latest bloodshed appeared certain to ratchet up tension between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims after December's election.
Kerbala is one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities while Ramadi is a Sunni Arab stronghold and a hotbed of insurgency.
The bombs shattered hope that Iraq might start 2006 on a more peaceful footing.
In all, violence has killed more than 225 people and wounded more than 280 in the five days since the New Year started, a death toll comparable with some of the nation's bloodiest weeks since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
"These groups of dark terror will not succeed through these cowardly acts in dissuading Iraqis in their bid to form a government of national unity," President Jalal Talabani said in response to the attacks.
BLOOD AND DEBRIS
The Kerbala bomber detonated an explosive belt laced with ballbearings and a grenade, killing 51 and wounding 138.
Television pictures showed pools of blood in the street, which was littered with debris. Passers-by loaded the wounded into the backs of cars and vans, and one black-clad woman stood crying while clutching her dead or wounded baby to her chest.
Soon afterwards, another bomber blew himself up near a group of police and army recruits in the western city of Ramadi, in the worst single attack in Iraq since July 2005.
The attack, which killed more than 60 and wounded around 70, was the latest in a long string of assaults on police and army recruits, tasked with taking over from the U.S. military in the fight against the largely Sunni Arab insurgency.
Doctor Mahmoud al-Dulaimi from Ramadi general hospital said some U.S. soldiers were among the wounded, although he could not say how many.
The assault in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Baghdad, was the second in the city in as many days and happened within sight of the golden dome of the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam.
"The bomb was caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt, walking among people," said Lieutentant-Colonel Razak al-Taee of the Iraqi police.
"Explosives experts found wires, ballbearings and a grenade used in the explosion," he told al-Iraqiya state television.
On Wednesday, a car bomb wounded three people in the first attack of its kind in Kerbala since December 2004. In March 2004 coordinated suicide bombings during an annual religious festival in the city killed more than 90 people.
WORST ATTACK SINCE JULY
The Ramadi bombing was the bloodiest single attack in Iraq since July 18, when a fuel truck bomb killed 98 people in the town of Musayyib, south of Baghdad, although in November two suicide bombers killed 77 people in two Shi'ite mosques in the town of Khanakin in northern Iraq.
Bombs also exploded in Baghdad, although with less impact.
Three car bombs, two of them suicide attacks, exploded in the capital in quick succession, suggesting a level of coordination that may be a response by Sunni Arab insurgents to the largely peaceful parliamentary election of December 15.
The bombs killed two people and wounded six, police and Interior Ministry sources said.
In Wednesday's carnage, a suicide bomber killed 36 mourners and wounded 40 at a Shi'ite funeral in the town of Miqdadiya, northeast of the capital, and two car bombs in Baghdad killed 13 and wounded 27.
Mistrust between Iraq's majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arab communities has been heightened by the results of last month's elections, which some Sunni and secular leaders say were rigged to favor the Shi'ites.
The Iraqi electoral commission has called in a panel of four international monitors to investigate those accusations.
After a series of bilateral meetings in Kurdistan, political leaders have agreed to meet in Baghdad soon to push their plan for a national unity government able to stem the bloodshed that has become part of daily life for millions of Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny, Gideon Long, Ahmed Rasheed, Omar al-Ibadi, Hiba Moussa and Ross Colvin in Baghdad)
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C'mon guys, show your true stripes.
By Sami Jumaili
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers killed at least 110 people and wounded more than 200 in the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi on Thursday, the second consecutive day of concerted insurgent attacks.
Another three bombs exploded in Baghdad, two of them detonated by suicide bombers, and a roadside bomb targeted a U.S convoy near the southern Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, destroying a Humvee and killing at least two civilians.
Coming a day after 58 people died in a wave of bombings and shootings, the latest bloodshed appeared certain to ratchet up tension between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims after December's election.
Kerbala is one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities while Ramadi is a Sunni Arab stronghold and a hotbed of insurgency.
The bombs shattered hope that Iraq might start 2006 on a more peaceful footing.
In all, violence has killed more than 225 people and wounded more than 280 in the five days since the New Year started, a death toll comparable with some of the nation's bloodiest weeks since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
"These groups of dark terror will not succeed through these cowardly acts in dissuading Iraqis in their bid to form a government of national unity," President Jalal Talabani said in response to the attacks.
BLOOD AND DEBRIS
The Kerbala bomber detonated an explosive belt laced with ballbearings and a grenade, killing 51 and wounding 138.
Television pictures showed pools of blood in the street, which was littered with debris. Passers-by loaded the wounded into the backs of cars and vans, and one black-clad woman stood crying while clutching her dead or wounded baby to her chest.
Soon afterwards, another bomber blew himself up near a group of police and army recruits in the western city of Ramadi, in the worst single attack in Iraq since July 2005.
The attack, which killed more than 60 and wounded around 70, was the latest in a long string of assaults on police and army recruits, tasked with taking over from the U.S. military in the fight against the largely Sunni Arab insurgency.
Doctor Mahmoud al-Dulaimi from Ramadi general hospital said some U.S. soldiers were among the wounded, although he could not say how many.
The assault in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Baghdad, was the second in the city in as many days and happened within sight of the golden dome of the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shi'ite Islam.
"The bomb was caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt, walking among people," said Lieutentant-Colonel Razak al-Taee of the Iraqi police.
"Explosives experts found wires, ballbearings and a grenade used in the explosion," he told al-Iraqiya state television.
On Wednesday, a car bomb wounded three people in the first attack of its kind in Kerbala since December 2004. In March 2004 coordinated suicide bombings during an annual religious festival in the city killed more than 90 people.
WORST ATTACK SINCE JULY
The Ramadi bombing was the bloodiest single attack in Iraq since July 18, when a fuel truck bomb killed 98 people in the town of Musayyib, south of Baghdad, although in November two suicide bombers killed 77 people in two Shi'ite mosques in the town of Khanakin in northern Iraq.
Bombs also exploded in Baghdad, although with less impact.
Three car bombs, two of them suicide attacks, exploded in the capital in quick succession, suggesting a level of coordination that may be a response by Sunni Arab insurgents to the largely peaceful parliamentary election of December 15.
The bombs killed two people and wounded six, police and Interior Ministry sources said.
In Wednesday's carnage, a suicide bomber killed 36 mourners and wounded 40 at a Shi'ite funeral in the town of Miqdadiya, northeast of the capital, and two car bombs in Baghdad killed 13 and wounded 27.
Mistrust between Iraq's majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arab communities has been heightened by the results of last month's elections, which some Sunni and secular leaders say were rigged to favor the Shi'ites.
The Iraqi electoral commission has called in a panel of four international monitors to investigate those accusations.
After a series of bilateral meetings in Kurdistan, political leaders have agreed to meet in Baghdad soon to push their plan for a national unity government able to stem the bloodshed that has become part of daily life for millions of Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
(Additional reporting by Mariam Karouny, Gideon Long, Ahmed Rasheed, Omar al-Ibadi, Hiba Moussa and Ross Colvin in Baghdad)
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