Perilous
Times
32 killed in Baghdad blast
At least 32 people were killed and 71 wounded in twin blasts which
rocked Baghdad.
11:33AM BST 28 Oct 2011
The Telegraph UK
A defence ministry official put the toll from Thursday night's
twin roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad's Urr neighbourhood at 32
dead and 71 wounded while an interior ministry official said 36
were killed and 78 wounded.
Officials had given initial tolls of at least 10 dead and 32
wounded.
They said one bomb exploded at around 7:00 pm local time on
Thursday followed by a second after security forces and crowds
gathered at the scene.
The revised death toll marks the highest since August 15, when
twin bombings in the southern city of Kut, blamed on Al-Qaeda,
killed 40 people.
The attacks come amid concerns that violence may increase after US
forces leave Iraq by the end of the year, and are the deadliest
since that decision was announced by US President Barack Obama on
October 21.
The US had engaged in protracted and ultimately failed
negotiations with Iraq about a post-2011 US military training
mission here.
The issue of immunity from prosecution for US trainers was the
main sticking point, with Washington insisting its troops be given
immunity, while Baghdad said that was not necessary.
The roughly 39,000 US soldiers still in Iraq are now in the
process of drawing down, after a nearly nine-year campaign that
has left thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of
Iraqi dead, and costs billions of dollars.