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Last Updated: Feb 1, 2008 - 2:09:22 PM |
BAGHDAD - Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up Friday in separate attacks on Baghdad pet bazaars, killing at least 68 people and wounding dozens, police said. The attacks were the deadliest in the Iraqi capital since 30,000 more American troops flooded into the center of the country last spring.
In the first attack, a woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black Islamic robe at about 10:20 a.m. in the central al-Ghazl market. The weekly bazaar has been bombed several times since the war started but has recently re-emerged as a popular shopping venue as Baghdad security improved and a Friday ban on driving was lifted.
Four police and hospital officials said at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.
About 20 minutes later, a second female suicide bomber struck a bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad. That blast killed as many as 22 people and wounded 65, according to police and hospital officials.
The attacks shortly before the weekly Islamic call to prayer resounded across the capital were the latest in a series of violent incidents that have been chipping away at Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said about 70 people were killed in both attacks, which he said were committed by terrorists motivated by revenge and "to show that they are still able to stop the march of history and of our people toward reconciliation."
Police initially said the bomb at al-Ghazl market was hidden in a box of birds but determined it was a suicide attack after finding the woman's head, an officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.
One pigeon vendor said the market had been particularly busy because it was a pleasantly crisp and clear winter day after a recent cold spell.
Ali Ahmed, who was hit by shrapnel in his legs and chest, said he was worried about his friend, Zaki, who disappeared after the blast about 40 yards away.
"I just remember the horrible scene of the bodies of dead and wounded people mixed with the blood of animals and birds, then I found myself lying in a hospital bed," he said.
Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a U.S. military spokesman, gave lower casualty figures, saying seven were killed and 23 wounded in the first bombing, and 20 killed and 30 wounded in the second.
He confirmed both attacks were carried out by women wearing explosives vests and said the attacks appeared to be coordinated and likely the work of al-Qaida in Iraq.
At least four other suicide bombings have been staged by women since November, all in the volatile Diyala province northeast of the capital.
The most recent was on Jan. 16 when a female suicide bomber detonated her explosives as Shiites were preparing for a ceremony marking the holiday of Ashoura in a Shiite village near the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba.
Involving women in fighting violates religious taboos in Iraq, but the U.S. military has warned that al-Qaida in Iraq is recruiting women and youths to stage suicide attacks as the insurgents become increasingly desperate to thwart stepped-up security measures.
Women in Iraq often wear a black Islamic robe known as an abaya and it can be easier for them to avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because of Islamic sensitivities about their treatment.
Many teenage boys were among the casualties in the al-Ghazl bombing, according to police and hospital officials.
A bomb hidden in a box of small birds also exploded at the al-Ghazl market in late November, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. The U.S. military blamed the November attack on Iranian-backed Shiite militants, saying they had hoped al-Qaida in Iraq would be held responsible for the attack so Iraqis would turn to them for protection.
The U.S. military has been unable to stop the suicide bombings despite a steep drop in violence in the past six months, but the explosions on Friday were the deadliest in the capital since the April 18 car bombing, which killed 116 and wounded 145.
Rae Muhsin, the 21-year-old owner of a cell phone store, said he was walking toward the New Baghdad bird market in southeastern Baghdad when the blast occurred, shattering the windows of nearby stores.
"I ran toward the bird market and saw charred pieces of flesh, small spots of blood and several damaged cars," Muhsin said, adding he will no longer visit the Friday market. "I thought that we had achieved real security in Baghdad, but it turned that we were wrong."
The number of Iraqi civilians and security forces killed in January fell to at least 599, an Associated Press tally showed, the lowest monthly death toll since December 2005, and continuing a downward trend since the fall. The figure as tabulated by Iraqi officials in the ministries of Defense, Interior and Health was slightly lower, at 543.
U.S. forces, meanwhile, have expanded offensives in central and northern Iraq, seeking to build on gains against al-Qaida in Iraq in the past year. But the latest campaigns also have driven up the military's death toll after months of decline.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday — one by a roadside bomb in Baghdad and another by a rocket or mortar attack on a convoy support center south of the capital, the military reported.
The attacks raised to at least 39 the number of U.S. troops who died in January — well above the 23 in December but still sharply lower than a year ago. In January last year, 83 soldiers were killed in Iraq.
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