Car bombs explode in Baghdad, killing at least 135 people
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Two powerful car bombs exploded in Baghdad this morning, killing at least 135 people and wounding more than 520 others in an attack whose apparent targets were the Iraqi justice ministry and the governor’s office, authorities said.
Reporters were barred from the scene immediately after the blast, but state television footage showed bloody and dazed Iraqis fleeing the charred buildings. Twisted metal, pools of blood and piles of debris littered the bombing sites in central Baghdad.
Iraqi police said the bombings occurred nearly simultaneously at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday is the beginning of the work week in Iraq and the two targeted areas were packed with civilians and government employees. Authorities said the blasts were triggered by suicide bombers in cars. No further details were immediately available. The explosions could be heard throughout Baghdad.
Iraqis are scheduled to vote in parliamentary elections in January, setting the conditions for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces under a new Iraqi administration. But the failure of Iraqi security forces to foil such deadly attacks, coupled with a political impasse over election law, leaves the elections in jeopardy.
Today’s attack is the second major security breach in recent months for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s troubled government – similar bombings killed about 100 people and wounded hundreds more in an August attack aimed at government ministries in the capital.
Reporters were barred from the scene immediately after the blast, but state television footage showed bloody and dazed Iraqis fleeing the charred buildings. Twisted metal, pools of blood and piles of debris littered the bombing sites in central Baghdad.
Iraqi police said the bombings occurred nearly simultaneously at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday is the beginning of the work week in Iraq and the two targeted areas were packed with civilians and government employees. Authorities said the blasts were triggered by suicide bombers in cars. No further details were immediately available. The explosions could be heard throughout Baghdad.
Iraqis are scheduled to vote in parliamentary elections in January, setting the conditions for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. forces under a new Iraqi administration. But the failure of Iraqi security forces to foil such deadly attacks, coupled with a political impasse over election law, leaves the elections in jeopardy.
Today’s attack is the second major security breach in recent months for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s troubled government – similar bombings killed about 100 people and wounded hundreds more in an August attack aimed at government ministries in the capital.
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