Bomb carnage in Iraq claims 72

2005-05-11 20:02

Baghdad - At least 72 Iraqis were killed and more than 160 wounded on Wednesday in a string of bomb attacks in northern Iraq and Baghdad, said security officials.

The bloodshed came as a 1 000-strong US force backed by aircraft battled insurgents in the west of the country, in an operation which the military said had killed up to 100 rebels.

A car bomb killed 31, mostly civilians, and wounded 66 in a busy market area of Tikrit, 180km north of Baghdad, the hometown of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The army said in Hawijah, northeast of Tikrit, a suicide bomber wearing a belt of explosives struck outside an army recruitment centre, killing 38 and wounding 84.

Drive-by shooting in Baghdad

Police said in Baghdad, at least three people were killed and 10 wounded in two separate explosions, one of them, outside Dura police station.

An interior ministry official said in other violence, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and five wounded in a drive-by shooting in western Baghdad.

The ministry's spokesperson said security forces carried out a controlled explosion to destroy a bomb planted near the oil ministry in Baghdad.

Insurgents had stepped up their attacks this month since Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari formed Iraq's first democratically elected government in more than half a century.

Since the beginning of May, more than 400 people were killed in car bombings and other attacks.

- AFP