Seven killed, dozens hurt in Baghdad blast
Sunday, 26 August 2007
BAGHDAD Aug 25 (Agencies): A car bomb exploded in northern Baghdad Saturday, killing seven passers-by and wounding dozens of others in an apparent sectarian attack near the capital's most important Shiite shrine. The attack in Kazimiyah came even as parts of Baghdad were shut down to vehicular traffic in an effort to protect Shiite pilgrims leaving for an annual religious commemoration in the southern city of Karbala next week.
The curbs on traffic were imposed late Friday and were expected to continue through the weekend to allow the pilgrims safe passage on their trek to celebrate the birthday of the "Hidden Imam," a 9th century religious figure who devout Shiites believe will return to Earth to usher in the rule of peace.
Just after noon, a bomb hidden in a parked car exploded in busy Oruba Square about 500 yards from the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim, another revered Shiite figure.
A medic at the local hospital said seven people were killed in the explosion and 30 others were wounded.
No group claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell on Sunni religious extremists who consider Shiites as heretics and collaborators with the Americans.
Elsewhere, US and Iraqi forces killed two insurgents and arrested seven others Friday during raids on two villages along the road linking Baghdad with the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police Col. Abbas Mohammed said.
Three stolen cars believed to be intended to be used for car bombs, as well as ammunition and bomb-making materials were also seized, Mohammed said. There were no reports of US or Iraqi casualties, he said.
Iraqi security forces also killed a man suspected of links to the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, Mohammed said. Ten other al-Qaida suspects were arrested in the Friday raid which occurred in a village northeast of Baghdad.
Also Friday, US helicopters blasted rooftops in a Shiite neighborhood of north Baghdad in a gunfight that left eight Shiite gunmen dead, according to the US military's count. Shiites claimed some civilians died and radicals castigated Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as being too weak to rein in the Americans.
The curbs on traffic were imposed late Friday and were expected to continue through the weekend to allow the pilgrims safe passage on their trek to celebrate the birthday of the "Hidden Imam," a 9th century religious figure who devout Shiites believe will return to Earth to usher in the rule of peace.
Just after noon, a bomb hidden in a parked car exploded in busy Oruba Square about 500 yards from the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim, another revered Shiite figure.
A medic at the local hospital said seven people were killed in the explosion and 30 others were wounded.
No group claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell on Sunni religious extremists who consider Shiites as heretics and collaborators with the Americans.
Elsewhere, US and Iraqi forces killed two insurgents and arrested seven others Friday during raids on two villages along the road linking Baghdad with the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police Col. Abbas Mohammed said.
Three stolen cars believed to be intended to be used for car bombs, as well as ammunition and bomb-making materials were also seized, Mohammed said. There were no reports of US or Iraqi casualties, he said.
Iraqi security forces also killed a man suspected of links to the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group, Mohammed said. Ten other al-Qaida suspects were arrested in the Friday raid which occurred in a village northeast of Baghdad.
Also Friday, US helicopters blasted rooftops in a Shiite neighborhood of north Baghdad in a gunfight that left eight Shiite gunmen dead, according to the US military's count. Shiites claimed some civilians died and radicals castigated Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as being too weak to rein in the Americans.