Coordinated strikes hit Baghdad; at least 53 killed
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Rockets slammed into buildings, bombs exploded on the streets and mortar rounds fell from the sky before nightfall Thursday in an apparently coordinated strike on this capital, killing at least 53 people and injuring almost 200, authorities said.
The multiple attacks, which occurred as residents were returning home on the eve of the weekly Islamic holy day, struck a broad swath of largely Shiite Muslim districts in east Baghdad, immediately raising suspicions of sectarian motives in this deeply divided city.
The arsenal unleashed on the civilian targets included at least four Katyusha rockets, two car bombs, two roadside bombs and a pair of mortar shells, police sources said. All detonated during a 25-minute period beginning at 6:05 p.m.
Those killed included at least 13 women and a dozen children, authorities said. The death toll was expected to rise.
The attack came as U.S. and Iraqi authorities have lauded the results of a joint security crackdown in the capital and beleaguered Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has launched a reconciliation campaign to help heal the wounds of this divided nation. Parliament is expected to return next week following a two-month summer break.
The prime minister voiced hopes Thursday that Iraqi forces could take over security responsibilities for most of Iraq by the end of the year.
The U.S. military has said that a surge in violence in recent days is a direct response to the enhanced capital security plan, which involves the deployment of an additional 11,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops and has been labeled “The Battle for Baghdad.”
The stunning Thursday strike, one of the most deadly in Baghdad in recent months, displayed a level of coordination not seen here in some time. It suggested that the insurgency retains its ability to launch horrific and well-planned operations.
In recent months, officials have said that Shiite-led death squads had become the nation’s most prolific killers, usually seeking out Sunnis. But Thursday’s attacks appeared to have the hallmarks of well-organized insurgent cells working in tandem, not Shiite gunmen.
Thursday’s targets were spread out along a 12-mile arc on the east side of the Tigris, spanning at least half a dozen neighborhoods, including both Shiite-dominated and mixed Shiite-Sunni districts.
The ferocity of the blitz seemed to stun even residents of a city accustomed daily car bombs, ambushes and artillery shots. The attacks capped a five-day spike in violence.
July was the deadliest month since the end of the U.S.-led invasion, with more than 100 Iraqis reported killed each day. The ongoing U.S.-Iraqi security clampdown had succeeded in bringing the murder rate down substantially in August, U.S. authorities had said, until the mayhem picked up again this week.
No one took responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Sunni insurgents fighting al-Maliki’s Shiite-led and U.S.-backed government.
The attacks struck at a pivotal time for al-Maliki and his embattled government. The prime minister is expected to take his message of reconciliation to parliament next week, though his specific plan was not yet known.
Al-Maliki said Thursday that Iraqi forces will soon assume responsibility for security in the southern province of Dhi Qar, making it the second of 18 provinces where Iraqis have control over the security portfolio.