BAGHDAD — A coordinated series of attacks struck Shiite Muslims in the capital on Wednesday morning as they began gathering to mark the death of a revered imam who was the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.
[h=6]Saad Shalash/Reuters[/h] A man at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad on Wednesday.
In the south, explosions hit two Shiite mosques and a restaurant where police officer had gathered for breakfast. By midmorning, the death toll nationwide was more than 50 people and more than 100 were wounded, according to security officials.
According to an Interior Ministry official, four parked cars detonated across Baghdad, aimed at Shiite pilgrims celebrating the death of Imam Moussa Kadhim. The pilgrimage culminates on Saturday, raising the specter of further violence as more pilgrims descend on Baghdad in the coming days. In Wednesday’s attacks, at least 21 people were killed and around 60 people were wounded.
In Hilla, a predominantly Shiite city south of Baghdad, two car bombs left at least 20 people dead and nearly 40 injured. The attacks struck restaurants near the local police academy, and many of the dead were recruits, according to a local official. Additionally, homemade bombs damaged Shiite mosques in the Hilla area, although there were no casualties in those explosions. And in a village east of Karbala, a Shiite shrine city, a bomb struck a group of laborers as they gathered for work.
Numerous other smaller attacks and assassinations were reported across the country Wednesday morning. The spate of violence amounted to the deadliest day in Iraq since March, and followed a deadly sectarian attack last week on an important Shiite religious office in Baghdad that is in charge of overseeing mosques and cultural sites.
Late December marked the final withdrawal of American forces and in the immediate aftermath of their departure violence spiked. But in recent months, overall violence has appeared to decline, according to statistics released by the Iraqi government.
But every few weeks, significant attacks, mostly aimed at Shiites — particularly public gatherings to mark religious celebrations, as they have been for years — still occur at the hands of a still lethal Sunni insurgency. Last week, the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that includes Al Qaeda’s local franchise, claimed credit for the bombing of the Shiite office in Baghdad, which left an estimated 20 people dead.
Despite the regularity of the attacks, there is little sense that Iraq could soon tilt back toward the vicious sectarian war the country faced in the 2006 and 2007 — and which Syria appears to be facing today. Shiites, who are firmly in control of the levers of state, have little incentive to retaliate with terrorism or tit-for-tat sectarian killings.
Zaid Thaker contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Hilla, Iraq.
[h=6]Saad Shalash/Reuters[/h] A man at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad on Wednesday.
In the south, explosions hit two Shiite mosques and a restaurant where police officer had gathered for breakfast. By midmorning, the death toll nationwide was more than 50 people and more than 100 were wounded, according to security officials.
According to an Interior Ministry official, four parked cars detonated across Baghdad, aimed at Shiite pilgrims celebrating the death of Imam Moussa Kadhim. The pilgrimage culminates on Saturday, raising the specter of further violence as more pilgrims descend on Baghdad in the coming days. In Wednesday’s attacks, at least 21 people were killed and around 60 people were wounded.
In Hilla, a predominantly Shiite city south of Baghdad, two car bombs left at least 20 people dead and nearly 40 injured. The attacks struck restaurants near the local police academy, and many of the dead were recruits, according to a local official. Additionally, homemade bombs damaged Shiite mosques in the Hilla area, although there were no casualties in those explosions. And in a village east of Karbala, a Shiite shrine city, a bomb struck a group of laborers as they gathered for work.
Numerous other smaller attacks and assassinations were reported across the country Wednesday morning. The spate of violence amounted to the deadliest day in Iraq since March, and followed a deadly sectarian attack last week on an important Shiite religious office in Baghdad that is in charge of overseeing mosques and cultural sites.
Late December marked the final withdrawal of American forces and in the immediate aftermath of their departure violence spiked. But in recent months, overall violence has appeared to decline, according to statistics released by the Iraqi government.
But every few weeks, significant attacks, mostly aimed at Shiites — particularly public gatherings to mark religious celebrations, as they have been for years — still occur at the hands of a still lethal Sunni insurgency. Last week, the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organization that includes Al Qaeda’s local franchise, claimed credit for the bombing of the Shiite office in Baghdad, which left an estimated 20 people dead.
Despite the regularity of the attacks, there is little sense that Iraq could soon tilt back toward the vicious sectarian war the country faced in the 2006 and 2007 — and which Syria appears to be facing today. Shiites, who are firmly in control of the levers of state, have little incentive to retaliate with terrorism or tit-for-tat sectarian killings.
Zaid Thaker contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Hilla, Iraq.