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String of bomb attacks kill 97 in Baghdad

Published: 19/08/2009 05:00

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A series of deadly bomb attacks struck Baghdad Wednesday with at least 97 people killed and about 585 others injured.

A wounded man leaves the scene of an explosion outside the foreign ministry in central Baghdad, August 19, 2009.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

The bloodiest attacks occurred when two truck bombs struck the Iraqi Foreign and Finance Ministries before midday, killing a total of 95 people and wounding some 563 others, while more than 150 civilian cars were shattered.

A truck bomb loaded with about two tons of explosives detonated near a parking-lot close to the Foreign Ministry at the edge of the Green Zone in central Baghdad, a source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The powerful blast destroyed several buildings around the street in front of the Foreign Ministry, prompting rescue workers to search under the debris of the buildings.

The facade of the ministry itself was badly damaged and parts of the nearby al-Rasheed Hotel was also damaged. Moreover, some of the windows in the Iraqi parliament inside the Green Zone were smashed.

The force of the massive blast destroyed concrete blast walls in front of the ministry to protect it.

The powerful blast left a crater of three meters deep and some 10 meters wide, he added.

Only two minutes before, another truck bomb loaded with approximately more than one ton of explosives blew up under a bridge close to the Iraqi Finance Ministry near a highway in Waziriyah district at the eastern bank of the Tigris River, bringing down some 50 meters of the bridge and causing severe damages to the ministry building, the source said.

The Shraqiyah, an Iraqi local television aired a footage showing the ministry’s 10-story building was badly damaged while the force of the massive blast covered large area near the ministry with debris and smashed glass.

Meanwhile, undetermined number of mortar rounds landed on the commercial street of Kifah in central the capital and Salhiyah neighborhood, wounding eight people, the police said.

A double bomb explosion at Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad wounded ten people, while another roadside bomb at Baiyaa district in southern Baghdad killed two people and wounded four others, they said.

The spate of the attacks renewed doubts over the capability of the Iraqi security forces to maintain security after the U.S. troops pulled out of the cities and towns on June 30, in line with an agreement signed late last year between Baghdad and Washington.

Qassim Atta, spokesman of Baghdad operation command, told the state-run Iraqia television that his command blamed the violence on Saddam Hussein’s Baath party members and the al-Qaida militants.

“We accuse the Baath party members of these terrorist attacks,” Atta said, adding that the goal of such attacks is “to blow the successes achieved by the government.”

Meanwhile, Atta said “these attacks showed negligence which led to security breach, and the Iraqi forces should be blamed for.”

He also said that his troops captured a third booby-trapped truck loaded with large containers, filled with explosives at Salhiyah district and defused it before the explosion.

The attacks also came as the Iraqi security force were lifting concrete blast walls from Baghdad neighborhoods and main streets which helped to reduce violence during the past three years.

Despite dramatic drop of violence in recent months, deadly attacks against Iraqi security forces and civilians remain common in Baghdad.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

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