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Scene of an Iraq bombing - Source: Reuters -
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Car bombs killed at least 112 people in the heart of the Iraqi
capital on Tuesday, striking government buildings despite a
security crackdown after a series of high-profile attacks.
The blasts, most detonated by suicide bombers, were a brutal
reminder of the potency of Iraq's stubborn insurgency ahead of next
year's election and an auction of oilfield contracts due this
weekend.
"We had entered a shop seconds before the blast, the ceiling caved
in on us, and we lost consciousness. Then I heard screams and
sirens all around," said Mohammed Abdul Ridha, one of the 197
wounded in the series of at least four blasts.
Smoke billowed and sirens wailed as emergency workers removed the
dead in black body bags.
A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle in the car park of a
courthouse, after getting through a checkpoint, police said.
Another explosion struck a temporary building used by the Finance
Ministry after its main premises were devastated in a bombing in
August. It was unclear whether this blast involved a suicide
bomber.
A third bomber blew himself and his car up near a training centre
for judges.
The first blast occurred in the southern Baghdad district of Doura
about 30 minutes before the other three. It, too, was a suicide
bomber in a car packed with explosives.
Iraq's Oil Ministry said it would not cancel a planned tender of
oilfield development contracts on December 11 and 12, which
executives from the world's main oil companies were due to attend.
The deals are seen as crucial to Iraq's efforts to raise the cash
required to rebuild after years of war and destruction.
Workers outside the ministry who had been preparing the premises
for the auction fled to safety after the first of three blasts
shook the building.
Inside, windows rattled and walls shook, but employees quickly
returned to last-minute electrical work and painting.
New insurgent tactic
The blasts were the first large, high-profile explosions in Baghdad
since October 25, when two massive truck bombs killed 155 people at
the Justice Ministry and the offices of the governor of
Baghdad.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the bombings,
saying recent political compromises by Iraqi leaders over a new
election law stood "in sharp contrast to the senseless violence of
the terrorists."
"The United States will continue to support the Iraqi people as
they face down violent extremism and work to build a more peaceful
and democratic nation," she said in a statement.
After the October attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who
is staking his reputation on security ahead of a general election
due early next year, promised tightened security and the capture of
those responsible.
On Monday, a smaller blast, which some officials said might have
involved the accidental explosion of a hidden stockpile of
munitions, killed seven children at a school in the Shi'ite slum of
Sadr City.
The large-scale bomb attacks in Baghdad in August and October
marked a change of tactics for the Sunni Islamist insurgency.
Rather than frequent, smaller-scale attacks against soft targets
such as markets or mosques, groups like al Qaeda now appeared to be
aiming for spectacular and less frequent strikes against heavily
defended government targets.
Overall violence triggered by the 2003 US-led invasion has fallen
dramatically. In November, the Health Ministry reported the lowest
monthly death toll of Iraqi civilians in 6-1/2 years.
