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At least 69 killed in Iraqi blasts
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CNTV, December 23, 2011
At least 69 people have been killed in an apparently coordinated attack in Baghdad. With nearly two hundred injured, officials say at least 14 blasts went off early on Thursday morning in several neighborhoods around the Iraqi capital. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the violence.
The blasts were the worst violence to hit the country since a political crisis between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite factions erupted this weekend.
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Residents and Iraqi soldiers inspect the site of the bomb attack in Baghdad's Shaab District, northern Baghdad, December 22, 2011. [CNTV via Agencies] |
The violence ranged from sticky bombs attached to cars to roadside bombs and vehicles packed with explosives.
Most of the violence appeared to hit Shiite neighborhoods although some Sunni areas were also targeted.
One woman in western Baghdad describes what her family has been through.
Baghdad resident Um Hanin said: "My baby is sleeping in her bed. Shards of glass have fallen on our heads. Her father hugged her and carried her. She is now scared in the next room. All countries are stable. Why don't we have security and stability?"
Nearby, one man lamented that the blast victims were either ordinary citizens or civil servants.
Another Baghdad resident Haider said: "What crime have we committed? If you are unable to run the government, leave it."
While Baghdad and the rest of the country have become much safer over the years, explosions like Thursday's are still commonplace.
They come at a precarious time in the country's political history, just days after American troops pulled out of Iraq.
The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi of running a hit squad that targeted government officials. Al-Maliki is also pushing for a vote of no-confidence against another Sunni politician, the deputy prime minister Saleh al-Mutlaq.
Many Sunnis fear that this is part of a wider campaign to go after Sunni political figures and shore up Shiite control across the country while Iraq is in a fragile period of transition.
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