The Hindu : International : 59 killed, many wounded in suicide bombings across Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 12, 2005

International

International

59 killed, many wounded in suicide bombings across Iraq

Atul Aneja

Tikrit blast area was full of Shia migrant workers at the time of the attack

MANAMA: Persisting with attacks that were launched two weeks ago, Iraqi guerillas have killed at least 59 persons in a string of suicide bombings that have targeted separate locations north of Baghdad. An estimated 27 persons died when a suicide bomber exploded his car packed with explosives in a crowded market in Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad. The blast took place close to a police station, but it was not clear whether the building was the target.

Militants have frequently struck religious and ethnic groups, and the market place was full of Shia migrant workers at the time of the attack. The bombings follow claims by the U.S. that its forces had killed 100 guerillas in a sweeping assault close to Syria's border with Iraq. The sharp escalation in a fortnight of violence that has claimed nearly 400 lives also negates the earlier anticipation that the appointment of the new Government in Iraq would deflate the armed resistance to the two-year old American occupation. In the second attack, a suicide bomber, with explosives strapped to his body targeted would be recruits to the army, in the town of Hawija, close to the northern Iraqi oil city of Kirkuk. At least 20 persons were killed and scores wounded in the strike. The assailant had apparently first mingled with the crowd that had queued up at the recruitment centre before detonating his explosives.

Pools of blood

Eyewitnesses close to the scene of the attack said that the area was covered with pools of blood, dead bodies and body parts. Baghdad has also been rocked by at least four blasts, including a car bombing, which killed three persons and injured at least eight. It included a roadside bombing of a police patrol in the upmarket Mansour district.

Two high profile kidnappings of an Australian and a Japanese national have accompanied surging violence in Iraq. The captors of an Australian hostage Douglas Wood had set a Tuesday deadline for the withdrawal of all Australian forces from Iraq as a precondition for his release. The Army of Ansar Al-Sunna, which is one of the most feared guerilla groups in Iraq, has been holding Akihiko Saito, a Japanese, since Sunday evening.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News Update

Stories in this Section

59 killed, many wounded in suicide bombings across Iraq

More U.S. funds cleared

North Korea's move raises nuclear stakes

Four Nepal party leaders released

X-rays reveal origins of Earth

Language dispute rages in Belgium

Schroeder faces problems from Left-wing party

"Prince was helped to cheat in exam"

Pre-trial hearing for U.S. soldier

Cuban plane bomber "was CIA agent"

Manmohan's Moscow visit "excellent"

Amritsar-Lahore bus in two months