WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Blasts kill 78 in Iraq's bloodiest day in a year
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-24 10:46 BAGHDAD -- Suicide bomb blasts tore through crowds waiting for food aid in central Baghdad and inside a roadside restaurant filled with Iranian pilgrims Thursday, killing at least 78 people in Iraq's deadliest day in more than a year. The toll -- at least 31 dead in Baghdad and 47 to the north in Diyala province -- follows a series of high-profile attacks this month blamed on Sunni insurgents. The violence highlights potential security gaps as Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead role from US forces in protecting Baghdad and key areas around the capital.
The insurgent push is still nowhere near the scale of violence in past years, but it has undermined confidence that Iraq's security gains were on solid footing at a time when the US military is shifting its focus and resources to Afghanistan.
Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, say they have struck back at the heart of the insurgency: claiming they arrested one of the most wanted leaders of a militant network linked to al-Qaida. The reported capture of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, could mark a setback to insurgents as they try to intensify attacks after a relative lull. In the past, however, Iraqi officials have reported al-Baghdadi's arrest or killing, only to acknowledge later that they were wrong. The US military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters. A US military could not confirm the arrest, said a spokesman, 1st Lt. John A. Brimley. In 2007, Iraq's government reported that al-Baghdadi had been killed and released photos of what it said was his body. Later, security officials said they had arrested al-Baghdadi. In both cases, the US military said at the time it could not be confirmed, and the reports turned out not to be true. The two attacks -- along with a suicide blast that killed three Sunnis who joined the anti-insurgent fight north of Baghdad -- made it the deadliest day in Iraq since March 8, 2008, when at least 110 people were killed. The two main blasts Thursday carried separate messages. The carnage in Baghdad showed insurgents were still capable of hitting the center of the capital. The devastated restaurant, to the north in Diyala province, was a reminder that the area remains an insurgent stronghold despite sustained offensives by US-led forces. Diyala -- with its good roads and proximity to Baghdad -- is considered a crucial gateway to the capital and a key to its security. US commanders, facing a planned end of combat operations in August 2010, have dedicated increasing firepower to the region to try to cripple insurgent networks. The Baghdad attacker hit about noon as police were distributing Iraqi Red Crescent food parcels in the central neighborhood of Karradah -- an area where many shops, restaurants and nightclubs have reopened in recent months as violence ebbed. Police officials and staff members at Ibn al-Nafis hospital said at least 31 people were killed, including eight police officers, and that at least 50 were wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the death toll. It not immediately clear who carried out the attack, but one witness said it appeared to be a woman. Women have been used in suicide bombings in Iraq, most recently during a Feb. 13 attack on Shiite pilgrims. |
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