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Suicide bombers kill 85 in two Iraqi cities
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 20:04
Two suicide bombers killed at least 85 people and wounded
more than 100 in the Iraqi cities of Kerbala and Ramadi on Thursday in one of
the country's deadliest days for months.
Iraqis look at the scene of a bomb attack in
Kerbala, south of Baghdad, January 5, 2006.
[Reuters] |
The attacks raised fears of an escalation in sectarian tensions, coming as
they did in one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities, Kerbala, and the Sunni Arab
stronghold of Ramadi.
The first bomber detonated an explosive belt laced with ballbearings and a
grenade in Kerbala, killing 50 and wounding 69 in the worst single attack in
Iraq since July.
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, a day after seemingly coordinated
attacks across Iraq killed at least 58.
The Ramadi attack, which killed 35 and wounded around 40, was the latest in a
long string of assaults on police and army recruits, tasked with taking over the
lead in the fight against the largely Sunni Arab insurgency from the U.S.
military.
The assault in Kerbala 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 Lieutenant-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. "Experts estimate he used
between 7 and 8 kg (15-18 lb) of TNT (explosives)."
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, an
act blamed on al Qaeda in Iraq.
Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Baghdad, is home to two of the three
holiest shrines in Iraq, the other being in nearby Najaf. Any attack in the city
is almost certain to have sectarian motives.
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