Car bomb kills five in Baghdad

BAGHDAD – A car bomb brought fresh carnage to the streets of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least five people, two of them women, at the Education Ministry.

There was no word on the motive for the attack, which occurred on US presidential election day. Iraq has been a divisive campaign issue, with President George W.Bush saying last year’s invasion was a vital phase of his “war on terror” and Democratic challenger John Kerry accusing him of mismanaging the war and its aftermath.The bombing also coincided with US preparations for a big offensive to retake the western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi from rebels ahead of nationwide Iraqi elections due in January.The blast in Baghdad’s mainly Sunni Adhamiya district badly damaged the ministry building and destroyed half a dozen cars.The body of an elderly man lay on the ground on fire after the explosion, which scattered body parts across the street.The bomb exploded in a side-street near a ministry building wall at about 9:30am, gouging a big crater in the tarmac.Water from burst pipes flooded the street.An Education Ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said about 20 people had been killed or wounded.An Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed the blast was caused by a car bomb, but said he had no final casualty toll.Among those wounded was Abbas Kadhim, 32, who was hit in the stomach by fragments of concrete as he sat in his car.He wept after being treated at the nearby No’man hospital.”I’m not crying because I’m wounded, but because of my brother.I was with him and I don’t know what happened to him,” he said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest of many such bombings since the US-led invasion that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.A roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of Iraqi National Guard vehicles near Abu Ghraib, in Baghdad’s western outskirts, wounding two Guards, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.Witnesses said a car bomb exploded near a patrol of US soldiers and Iraqi National Guards on Monday night in Haditha, 200 km north-west of Baghdad.A National Guard who was in the convoy but was not hurt said US helicopters had taken away a dozen casualties.There was no immediate comment from the US military.- Nampa-ReutersIraq has been a divisive campaign issue, with President George W.Bush saying last year’s invasion was a vital phase of his “war on terror” and Democratic challenger John Kerry accusing him of mismanaging the war and its aftermath.The bombing also coincided with US preparations for a big offensive to retake the western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi from rebels ahead of nationwide Iraqi elections due in January.The blast in Baghdad’s mainly Sunni Adhamiya district badly damaged the ministry building and destroyed half a dozen cars.The body of an elderly man lay on the ground on fire after the explosion, which scattered body parts across the street.The bomb exploded in a side-street near a ministry building wall at about 9:30am, gouging a big crater in the tarmac.Water from burst pipes flooded the street.An Education Ministry official, who asked not to be identified, said about 20 people had been killed or wounded.An Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed the blast was caused by a car bomb, but said he had no final casualty toll.Among those wounded was Abbas Kadhim, 32, who was hit in the stomach by fragments of concrete as he sat in his car.He wept after being treated at the nearby No’man hospital.”I’m not crying because I’m wounded, but because of my brother.I was with him and I don’t know what happened to him,” he said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest of many such bombings since the US-led invasion that toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.A roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of Iraqi National Guard vehicles near Abu Ghraib, in Baghdad’s western outskirts, wounding two Guards, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.Witnesses said a car bomb exploded near a patrol of US soldiers and Iraqi National Guards on Monday night in Haditha, 200 km north-west of Baghdad.A National Guard who was in the convoy but was not hurt said US helicopters had taken away a dozen casualties.There was no immediate comment from the US military.- Nampa-Reuters