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Scene of an Iraq bombing - Source: Reuters -
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Iraqi officials said the death toll from car bombings was lower than earlier reported, citing 77 deaths in attacks apparently intended to undermine Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead of March polls.
Several police sources on Tuesday said at least 112 people had died and 425 were wounded in the attacks on a court, a judicial training centre, a building used as a temporary home for the bombed out Finance Ministry, and a police checkpoint.
Other international and local media, using similar police sources, reported a death toll as high as 127.
The bombings appeared aimed at undermining Shi'ite Prime Minister al-Maliki's efforts to claim credit for bringing increased security to Iraq. The casualties have therefore become politically sensitive ahead of an election due on March 7.
Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said 77 people were killed on Tuesday across Baghdad by at least four explosions caused by suicide bombers in cars - the third major, coordinated assault on the Iraqi capital in four months.
"I talked to the health minister a while ago and he issued a statement from the Health Ministry stating that 77 people were killed," Moussawi said. He said 513 people were wounded.
The government blames Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, allied with late former president Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath party, for the attacks.
Tuesday's attacks were the bloodiest since 155 people were killed in two massive truck bomb blasts on October 25. Attacks on the Foreign and Finance Ministries on Aug. 19 killed 95 people.
Casualty figures in Iraq have long been notoriously difficult to pin down, partly due to the dangers of gathering information in a blast zone and the confusion that accompanies a major catastrophe. Record-keeping in Iraq is haphazard at best.
