Up to 74 reported dead after Iraq bombings

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

As many as 74 people are reported to have been killed after a series of bombings across Iraq on Monday, with another 250 injured.

A total of thirteen bombs were set off, including car bombs, suicide bombers, and stationary bombs planted along roads. The worst attack was in the city of Kut, where a pair of bombs killed 37 people. A roadside bomb had exploded, followed by a car bomb once security personnel and other bystanders began to arrive at the scene of the first explosion. A witness to this attack said that "I was on my way to my shop in the market and suddenly I felt myself being thrown to the ground."

Bombs also were detonated in the holy cities of Kerbala and Najaf; up to eleven people were killed in the two cities. In Tikrit, suicide bombers attacked an anti-terrorism facility, killing three policemen. Explosions were also reported in Baghdad, Taji, Balad, Kirkuk and Iskandiriyah. The total death toll has ranged from "at least 60," according to the BBC, to "at least 74," according to The Guardian.

The bombings largely targeted Shia Muslim areas of Iraq. The Islamic State of Iraq, an extremist group composed of Sunni Muslims and with ties to Al-Qaeda, has been named as a possible perpetrator of the attacks. However, no group has yet claimed responsibility.

A security spokesperson in Baghdad said that other planned attacks had been disrupted, saying that "[t]oday's attacks were not a surprise."

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Sources

"Iraqi cities hit by deadly wave of violence" — BBC News Online, August 15, 2011
"Iraq bomb blasts across 13 cities leave dozens dead" — The Guardian, August 15, 2011

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