Car bomb in Iraq kills about 30 people
Pastor Dale Morgan
Car bomb in Iraq kills about 30 people
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By ROBERT H. REID
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 10, 2009; 3:53 PM
BAGHDAD -- A car bomb blew up Wednesday in a packed outdoor food market
in one of the most peaceful areas of Iraq's Shiite south, killing about
30 people and wounding dozens more. The blast raised fears that
militants may be planning more strikes in remote, poorly secured areas,
seeking to stretch Iraq's security services as they take on a bigger
role in Baghdad and other flashpoint cities.
Angry townspeople swarmed around police in the wake of the attack,
cursing and blaming them for failing to prevent the bombing.
No group claimed responsibility for the explosion, which occurred during
the morning shopping period in Bathaa, a small Euphrates River town near
Nasiriyah about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad.
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But the country's Shiite vice president, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, blamed
al-Qaida and Sunni insurgents with links to Saddam Hussein's banned
Baath party.
"Targeting stable and secure areas is a desperate effort ... to reignite
sectarian sedition and try to affect security and political progress,"
Abdul-Mahdi said in a statement.
The blast was the latest in a series of high-profile explosions that
have raised concerns about a resurgence of violence as the U.S. military
faces a June 30 deadline to withdraw from urban areas in Iraq.
It was the deadliest bombing in the Nasiriyah area since Nov. 12, 2003,
when a suicide truck bomber attacked the headquarters of Italian forces
stationed there, killing more than 30 people.
Since then, however, surrounding Dhi Qar province has been relatively
peaceful. Security responsibility for the area was transferred from the
U.S.-led coalition to the Iraqis in September 2006 while Sunni-Shiite
warfare was raging in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country.
Large-scale bombings targeting Shiite civilians have been a common
tactic of al-Qaida and other Sunni extremists - especially in Baghdad.
But they have been rare in remote southern communities like Bathaa, an
overwhelmingly Shiite town where outsiders are viewed with suspicion.
Stunned survivors expressed shock that their town was targeted. Some
voiced anger at the police for lax security, prompting the provincial
governor to fire the town police chief.
"We did not expect that such an explosion would happen here. It is a
market for the poor people of Bathaa. It is a big failure of the
security measures here," said Amir Talib, 28, who helped evacuate the
wounded.
Haidar al-Ghizi, a town council member, said police were supposed to
search cars in the area.
"I don't know how this car got through," he said. "There has been
negligence and poor performance from police."
After the blast, dozens of young men gathered at the blast site,
shouting and cursing the police for lax security, according to
eyewitnesses. Iraqi army soldiers rushed to the scene to protect the police.
Authorities increased security at the main entry points to the province
and in the Nasiriyah city center to prevent the possibility of another
bombing.
Witnesses described a grisly scene of mangled bodies, including women
and children, littering the main street in the first terrifying moments
after the blast. So many victims were blown to pieces that authorities
were having trouble determining the precise death toll.
Sajad Sharhan, the head of the provincial security committee, said 29
people were killed and 55 wounded. An Interior Ministry official,
speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to
release the information, put the death toll at 28.
A spokesman for the Nasiriyah hospital, Kadhim al-Obeidi, said 35 people
were killed and 45 wounded.
Persistent violence in areas of Iraq has raised new questions about the
readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security.
President Barack Obama plans to end the U.S. combat role in Iraq by
September 2010, with the last American forces to leave the country by 2012.
The withdrawal timetable is provided for in a U.S.-Iraqi security pact
that took effect on Jan. 1.
The Iraqi government has agreed to hold a national referendum on the
agreement as required by parliament but said it wanted to hold the vote
early next year instead of this summer as originally planned.
Tuesday's Cabinet decision, which needs approval from Iraq's parliament,
means the referendum would be held together with national parliamentary
elections on Jan. 30.
Adding the referendum met a demand by the main Sunni bloc in parliament
and raised the possibility that U.S. troops may have to leave even
sooner if the voters reject the security agreement.