Triple bombing kill 32 ahead of Iraqi vote
13:22 / 04.03.2010 Suicide bombers struck in quick succession Wednesday in a former insurgent stronghold northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 32 people just days before a crucial election that will determine who will govern the country as American forces depart, APA reports quoting Associated Press.
The blasts in Baqouba — including one by a bomber who rode in an ambulance to a hospital and blew himself up there — were the deadliest in more than a month and illustrated the challenges facing Iraqi forces trying to prove they can secure the country after the full withdrawal of U.S. forces by the end of next year.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings but they bore the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq, which has promised to violently disrupt Sunday’s parliamentary vote and warned Sunnis not to participate in the balloting. Iraqi authorities vowed not to let the insurgents derail the democratic process.
"These attacks aim to terrify people from going to polling stations," said Fakhri al-Obaidi, spokesman of the Diyala provincial council in Baqouba. "But I am sure that people will insist on voting."
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell denounced the bombings but said they would not succeed in disrupting the election, "nor do we anticipate that it will derail our responsible drawdown of forces in Iraq" to 50,000 troops by Sept. 1.
The violence began about 9 a.m. with a suicide car bomb that targeted a local government housing office near an Iraqi army facility, police spokesman Capt. Ghalib al-Karkhi said.
Within minutes, a second suicide car bomb exploded 200 yards (meters) down the street near the provincial government headquarters near many police and army personnel.
It was the final bomber, however, who caused the most casualties, by donning a military uniform, pretending to be wounded and riding an ambulance back to the hospital where he blew himself up, al-Karkhi said. Many of the wounded from the first two bombs were killed in the third attack.Bu yazı ( 287 ) - dəfə oxunmuşdur
