Two bomb attacks kill nearly three dozen in Iraq

BAGHDAD – Two bombs in separate Iraqi cities ripped through crowds of people Tuesday, causing some of the worst carnage in the country in recent weeks and revealing that – despite the relative calm of recent months – insurgent groups remain capable of devastating attacks.

The morning bombs detonated in two major cities north of the capital: Baiji, an oil refinery town, and Baqubah, a provincial capital where the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq remains lethal, even though it has lost some of its earlier dominance. The attacks, which killed at least 34 people and wounded as many as 100, prompted calls by Iraqi officials for more Iraqi soldiers and police in the northern provinces to quell the violence.

The more devastating attack occurred in Baiji, near a checkpoint outside a two-story housing complex for oil industry employees. The complex was guarded by members of the Facilities Protection Service, part of the Interior Ministry, and members of the local Sunni volunteer security force, one of the many groups increasingly targeted by insurgents after joining forces with the American military.

Police and provincial officials said a small car loaded with explosives detonated about 9:30 a.m. outside the checkpoint, killing at least 22 people and wounding between 60 and 80 other people. The U.S. military put the death toll at 20 plus 80 injuries.

The second blast occurred at about 11 a.m. in western Baqubah, in Diyala province. A suicide bomber detonated a vehicle amid a crowd of protesters following a funeral, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. That bombing killed at least 12 people, including the bomber, and wounded five others, said Maj. Shawn Garcia, a U.S. military spokesman in Diyala.

According to residents of Baqubah and Iraqi officials, the funeral was for two slain members of the Sunni volunteer force in the city, former members of an insurgent group who had turned against al-Qaida in Iraq and allied themselves with the U.S. military. Despite that alliance, however, relatives and residents blamed the U.S. military for killing the two men.

American soldiers did kill two people during a 3 a.m. operation, but Maj. Garcia said unit members fired only after taking fire themselves, and later found the two dead individuals to be armed. He said it has not been confirmed that these were members of the volunteer force, known by the U.S. military as Concerned Local Citizens.

In a separate development, the Turkish military said its bombing raids into northern Iraq have struck more than 200 guerrilla targets since Dec. 16 and killed up to 175 rebel fighters, according to a statement posted on the Turkish military Web site described by the Associated Press.