Car bomb kills 63 in Baghdad
Thursday, 19 June 2008
BAGHDAD, June 18 (AFP): A car bomb at a bus stop in north Baghdad killed at least 63 people and wounded 75 others Tuesday, security officials told AFP. The attack, the biggest in past eight weeks, took place in the mainly Shiite Al-Hurriyah neighbourhood at around 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), they said.Security officials said the victims were taken to several hospitals in the Iraqi capital.
The car bombing came hours after a bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded at a checkpoint in north Baghdad, killing four fighters of a group battling Al-Qaeda militants.
That attack took place at around 10:00 am (0700 GMT) at a checkpoint run by the fighters in the Al-Sulek neighbourhood, security officials said. Four other members of the group were wounded, along with two civilians.
Al-Qaeda has repeatedly targeted such groups whose members were once its allies but in late 2006 turned against the radical Islamist group and sided with the US military.
In recent months, insurgent attacks such as car bombs have dropped significantly in Baghdad amid improved security following last year's deployment of extra US troops.
The previous biggest attack was on May 1 in the restive city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, when two suicide bombers slaughtered 35 people and wounded dozens more.
Meanwhile: Two thousand Turkish soldiers took part in an operation against Kurdish separatists Wednesday, killing three rebels in southeast Turkey, security sources said. Cobra attack helicopters pounded suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions in the province of Tunceli, the sources, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
State-run Anatolian news agency reported that eight rebels had surrendered in Sirnak province, further south near the border with Iraq.
Turkey has stepped up operations against PKK inside Turkey and, since the end of a February land offensive against guerrillas based in northern Iraq, has launched a series of air strikes against PKK targets in the neighboring country. The armed forces tend to step up operations in the spring when the snow melts.
The car bombing came hours after a bomb hidden on a motorcycle exploded at a checkpoint in north Baghdad, killing four fighters of a group battling Al-Qaeda militants.
That attack took place at around 10:00 am (0700 GMT) at a checkpoint run by the fighters in the Al-Sulek neighbourhood, security officials said. Four other members of the group were wounded, along with two civilians.
Al-Qaeda has repeatedly targeted such groups whose members were once its allies but in late 2006 turned against the radical Islamist group and sided with the US military.
In recent months, insurgent attacks such as car bombs have dropped significantly in Baghdad amid improved security following last year's deployment of extra US troops.
The previous biggest attack was on May 1 in the restive city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, when two suicide bombers slaughtered 35 people and wounded dozens more.
Meanwhile: Two thousand Turkish soldiers took part in an operation against Kurdish separatists Wednesday, killing three rebels in southeast Turkey, security sources said. Cobra attack helicopters pounded suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) positions in the province of Tunceli, the sources, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
State-run Anatolian news agency reported that eight rebels had surrendered in Sirnak province, further south near the border with Iraq.
Turkey has stepped up operations against PKK inside Turkey and, since the end of a February land offensive against guerrillas based in northern Iraq, has launched a series of air strikes against PKK targets in the neighboring country. The armed forces tend to step up operations in the spring when the snow melts.