Baghdad car bomb kills as many as 24
The attack in an affluent Shiite neighborhood wounds 46 others, police say. The bombing comes less than a week before Iraq regains responsibility for its security from the U.S.
Reporting from Baghdad — A car bomb blew up in a Shiite neighborhood in western Baghdad today, killing as many as 24 people and wounding 46 others, police said. The attack came less than a week before Iraq regains responsibility for its security from the United States.
A minibus laden with explosives ripped the Kadhimiya neighborhood by Zahra square, which hosts a market and bus stop, police said. Women and children were walking in the area at the time of the attack. The Iraqi army put the death toll at 22 dead and 44 wounded. The blast followed a suicide bombing in northern Iraq's Kirkuk region earlier this month that claimed the lives of 51 people.
Kadhimiya, an affluent neighborhood, is home to the revered Shiite Imam Kadhim shrine and is famed for its old market and jewelry merchants.
Attacks like today's car bombing in 2006 and 2007 sparked reprisal killings by Shiite militias against Sunnis. But in the last year, Sunni militant groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq have lost popularity as many of their members defected and formed an alliance with the Americans. Shiite militants have also lost influence, especially after Prime Minister Nouri Maliki ordered his forces last spring to attack the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, his onetime ally.
On Tuesday, U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno, the senior American commander in Iraq, warned that although violence had dropped significantly in Baghdad, armed groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq still posed a threat.
Despite the relative calm, bombs still go off almost daily in Baghdad. But the style of attack has genuinely shifted away from explosions meant to kill dozens to targeted assassinations, whether by a roadside bomb, shooting or an explosive attached to a person's vehicle.
ned.parker@latimes.com
