Iraq blasts kill dozens

BAGHDAD – Sixteen bombs struck Baghdad on Tuesday, exploding near crowded coffee shops and a Shiite mosque and bringing a city still reeling from a major attack Sunday to a standstill.

Iraqi officials said at least 63 people were killed and almost 250 wounded in what security officials said were car bombs and roadside bombs – most of them detonated in the space of less than 90 minutes.

U.S. officials said the coordinated attacks bore the hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq. An immediate curfew was put in place and roads closed after the explosions, which began just as many Iraqis were heading out for the evening.

The U.S. military said it had reports of 13 to 17 explosions, with about 50 Iraqis killed and more than 100 wounded.

The attacks came just two days after a team of gunmen invaded a Catholic church during Sunday Mass, shooting priests and parishioners and holding others hostage before detonating suicide vests when Iraqi special forces stormed the building.

At least 57 people were dead and more than 75 wounded Sunday.

At a nearby church in Baghdad’s Karrada district on Tuesday afternoon, senior government officials, security leaders and members of the close-knit Christian community gathered for the funeral of two young priests and 13 other victims. Government officials, tribal leaders, and a broad array of political leaders filed in to pay their respects and show their solidarity. Iraqi snipers stood watch on the church roof and mourners were searched entering the building.

Senior Christian leaders addressing the congregation abandoned their normal caution to demand that the government improve security. Almost eight months after Iraqis went to the polls, political parties are still trying to form a new government – a vacuum many Iraqis blame for fostering violence.

“I demand that their promises not remain ink on paper and that they do everything possible to erase the pain by preventing such criminals from carrying out such actions against Iraq and Iraqis,” said the Archbishop of Babylon Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka.