WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Wave of blasts in Iraqi capital kills at least 95
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-20 09:50 Firefighters extracted charred bodies from vehicles that had been caught in the explosion. Several of the apartment buildings across the street from the ministry complex were extensively damaged. Satellite dishes were mangled or blown away. Young men complained of partisan politics and the failures of the security forces in anger that echoed across the city. "Today's failure is the final straw for me," said Salem Mattar, a 31-year-old construction worker. "Government officials have 30-strong security details and don't care about ordinary folks." Suspected mortar shells also slammed into the Green Zone, Iraqi officials said, with one landing near the UN compound, briefly delaying a news conference being held to discuss humanitarian issues on the sixth anniversary of the Aug. 19, 2003, bombing at the world body's headquarters that killed 22 people, including top UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. The US military, which turned over responsibility for securing the Green Zone to the Iraqis on Jan. 1, said it could not confirm any mortar attacks. Another blast in the commercial area of western Baghdad's Baiyaa district killed two people and wounded 16, while a bombing in the commercial district of Bab al-Muadham killed six people and wounded 24, authorities said. Shiite politicians, including some close to al-Maliki, have been charging recently that Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and other Arab neighbors were orchestrating a violent campaign to destabilize Shiite majority Iraq. Speaking at the Foreign Ministry bomb site, Shiite Mayor Saber al-Issawi echoed those charges when he suggested that Iraq's "enemies" in the region were determined to reverse what he called the government's recent successes. The White House condemned the attacks, with spokesman Robert Gibbs saying they show "how far extremists will go to wreak havoc." But he said that the overall number of attacks in Iraq is "at or near an all-time low." The US military has warned that militants are trying to provoke new bloodshed to re-ignite retaliatory sectarian warfare and undermine public trust in the Iraqi government. US troops withdrew from Iraq's cities June 30 under a security pact that outlines the American withdrawal by the end of 2011. President Barack Obama has ordered all US combat troops out of Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, leaving up to 50,000 US troops in training and advising roles. "The terrorists are trying to rekindle the cycle of violence of past years by creating a climate of tension among the Iraqi people," President Jalal Talabani said in a statement. "Our security forces must be more alert and firm. Also, the political groups must unite." Sunni and Shiite extremists remain active in Iraq, and the US military has detected some political violence ahead of the national elections. But truck bombs and suicide attacks bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq. "The security forces have failed to protect the government buildings despite tight security measures and advanced equipment and this reflects huge shortcomings," said Saeed Jabar, a 35-year-old government employee. "It is a message to Iraqi officials that they should stop their exaggerations about the stability of this country."
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