Toll in Baghdad blasts rises to at least 118 dead
BAGHDAD -- A series of coordinated attacks struck Baghdad Tuesday, including two suicide car bombers and another vehicle that blew up near government sites. At least 118 were killed and hundreds wounded in the worst wave of violence in the capital in more than a month, authorities said.
A total of five attacks, which also included a suicide car bomb on a police patrol, showed the ability of insurgents to strike high-profile targets in the heart of Baghdad and marked the third time since August that government buildings were targeted with multiple blasts that brought massive bloodshed.
The bombings reinforced concerns about shortcomings in Iraqi security as U.S. forces plan their withdrawal, and parliament held an emergency session with many lawmakers demanding answers for apparent security lapses.
Iraq's military spokesman blamed the carnage on an alliance of al-Qaida in Iraq and members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party.
The U.S. military has sent some troops and forensic equipment to assist the Iraqis in the aftermath, said Army Master Sgt. Nicholas Conner, a military spokesman.
Overall violence has dropped sharply around Iraq in the past year, though insurgents have stepped up attacks at government sites in recent months. The bombings marked the most serious spate of violence in Baghdad since twin car bombs on Oct. 25 struck outside government offices, killing at least 155. In August, suicide bombers hit the finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100.
Iraqi officials blamed the August and October attacks on al-Qaida in Iraq and loyalists of the Baath Party - even bringing out three suspects on national television who gave what officials termed confessions.
But there are questions whether Iraq's leaders are trying to shift attention away from a possible resurgence of Sunni insurgents led by al-Qaida in Iraq. A rise in insurgent power could be a serious blow to the government's credibility before national elections, which were set Tuesday for March 6 - a more than seven-week delay from the original mid-January date because of political bickering on the voting rules.
Again, Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, appeared Tuesday to spread the blame between Baath loyalists and al-Qaida-linked extremists.
"The same hands that implemented the August and October attacks have carried out today's terrorist attacks against innocent civilians," he told The Associated Press.
Security forces worry the lead-up to the election date could bring an escalation in attacks seeking to discredit the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The core of the attacks hit central Baghdad with three blasts in the span of a few minutes.
Source: Washington Post
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