Aftermath of bombings in Baghdad where dozens were killed in renewed attacks. Since the US ostensibly withdrew nearly 350 have been killed., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Iraq violence kills at least 19
Dan Morse, Washington Post
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
At least 19 people were killed in Iraq on Tuesday as insurgents targeted day laborers, government workers and an antiterrorism police captain amid a continuing surge of violence, according to security officials.
At least 80 people were injured, the officials said.
In the attack on the captain, gunmen stormed the home of Hassan Abdulla al-Timimi in the Abu Ghraib area, west of Baghdad, killing him, his wife and their three children, said Col. Sabah al-Falahi, a local police commander. After leaving the house, the insurgents set off two explosions, injuring four of Timimi's neighbors.
The attacks come amid a political crisis that has virtually paralyzed the government after the U.S. troop departure last month. Analysts contend that insurgents are taking advantage of the chaos to try to exacerbate sectarian strife between Shiite and Sunni extremists. In recent weeks, an al Qaeda-affiliated group, the Islamic State of Iraq, has asserted responsibility for at least 37 attacks, saying it was protesting the detention of Sunnis in Shiite-controlled jails. Many of Tuesday's bombings targeted Shiite neighborhoods.
Insurgents attacked in two locations in Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite slum in Baghdad named after the father of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. In once incident, a parked car exploded near a group of day laborers waiting for work. In the other, a bomb detonated near a gas station. The blasts killed six people and injured 35, a security official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief reporters publicly.
In Baghdad's Hurriya district, another Shiite area, a parked car exploded, killing one and injuring 13. A blast in the central area of Allawi injured six, and in the Shaala area, a car bomb blew up near a school, killing two students and injuring 18.
In the 30 days after U.S. troops left on Dec. 18, at least 327 people were killed in bombings and assassinations, according to a security official. That appears to be a sharp increase over previous months. For the year ending Dec. 31, Iraqi officials recorded about 2,640 deaths.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/24/MN871MTLB6.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
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