Car bombs kill over 30 in Iraq

BAGHDAD – Car bombs killed 30 people in Iraq yesterday and wounded more than 70 in one of the bloodiest spasms of violence of recent weeks as political leaders closed in on a deal to form a national unity government.

The southern city of Basra was largely calm as British military engineers examined the wreck of a helicopter whose apparent shooting-down was followed by clashes between troops and youths chanting triumphal Shi’ite militia slogans. At least 21 people were killed and 52 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car on a crowded street in the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad, police and doctors said.The effect was devastating.Around the same time, two cars exploded in the capital.A suicide car bomber hit an Iraqi army patrol in the rebellious, mainly Sunni northern district of Aadhamiya, killing eight people and wounding 15.Soldiers and civilians were among the casualties.Iraqi and US forces had conducted a sweep for Sunni guerrillas in Aadhamiya on Saturday, the US military said.A second car bomb exploded at a busy intersection close to the offices of a government-funded newspaper in northern Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding five.In Kerbala, the police chief told a news conference only two people had died in the bombing.But police and hospital officials who declined to be named stood by their casualty figures and said rescue work was continuing four hours later.The blast decimated crowds going about their business at the start of the working week, close to a partially built Shi’ite mosque and some 500 metres from the main bus station.A dozen other vehicles burned out as a result of the explosion.Interior Ministry sources said 42 bodies had been found in the last 24 hours in the capital alone, including eight found dumped near Kindi hospital in central Baghdad.The figure is in line with levels of violence seen since sectarian bloodshed spiked up after the bombing of a Shi’ite shrine on Feb. 22.Sunni leaders blame pro-government Shi’ite militias and the Shi’ite-dominated police for some of the sectarian killing.Militia leaders speak of a need to respond to three years of violence by insurgents from the once-dominant Sunni minority.Sectarian bloodshed has prompted warnings Iraq is sliding toward civil war, and added urgency to efforts by political leaders to form a unity government that can reverse the trend.- Nampa-ReutersAt least 21 people were killed and 52 wounded when a suicide bomber detonated a car on a crowded street in the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad, police and doctors said.The effect was devastating.Around the same time, two cars exploded in the capital.A suicide car bomber hit an Iraqi army patrol in the rebellious, mainly Sunni northern district of Aadhamiya, killing eight people and wounding 15.Soldiers and civilians were among the casualties.Iraqi and US forces had conducted a sweep for Sunni guerrillas in Aadhamiya on Saturday, the US military said.A second car bomb exploded at a busy intersection close to the offices of a government-funded newspaper in northern Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding five.In Kerbala, the police chief told a news conference only two people had died in the bombing.But police and hospital officials who declined to be named stood by their casualty figures and said rescue work was continuing four hours later.The blast decimated crowds going about their business at the start of the working week, close to a partially built Shi’ite mosque and some 500 metres from the main bus station.A dozen other vehicles burned out as a result of the explosion.Interior Ministry sources said 42 bodies had been found in the last 24 hours in the capital alone, including eight found dumped near Kindi hospital in central Baghdad.The figure is in line with levels of violence seen since sectarian bloodshed spiked up after the bombing of a Shi’ite shrine on Feb. 22.Sunni leaders blame pro-government Shi’ite militias and the Shi’ite-dominated police for some of the sectarian killing.Militia leaders speak of a need to respond to three years of violence by insurgents from the once-dominant Sunni minority.Sectarian bloodshed has prompted warnings Iraq is sliding toward civil war, and added urgency to efforts by political leaders to form a unity government that can reverse the trend.- Nampa-Reuters