Baghdad explosions kill 23

2012-01-05 14:05

Baghdad - A wave of explosions struck two Shi'ite neighbourhoods in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 23 people and intensifying fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks after the US troop withdrawal that was completed last month.

The attacks began with the explosion of a bomb attached to a motorcycle near a bus stop where day laborers gather to look for work in the Sadr city neighborhood. The blast killed eight people, police said.

One of those who witnessed the attack said it filled the area with thick black smoke.

"People have real fears that the cycle of violence might be revived in this country," said Tariq Annad, a 52-year-old government employee who lives nearby.

That attack was followed by the explosion of a roadside bomb nearby that killed another person. Police found a third bomb nearby and defused it.

Less than two hours later, two blasts struck the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Kazimiyah in the north of the capital, killing 14 people.

Officials said the Kazimiyah blasts occurred almost simultaneously, with at least one caused by a car bomb.

Hospital officials confirmed the causalities, which included at least 60 wounded.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information.

Deadly attacks

Iraqi leaders have warned of a resurgence of Sunni and Shi'ite militants and an increase in violence following the departure of US troops.

The early morning blasts followed deadly attacks on Wednesday that targeted the homes of police officers and a member of a government-allied militia. Those attacks, in the cities of Baqouba and Abu Ghraib outside Baghdad, killed four people, including two children, officials said.

The latest violence comes as Iraqi politicians remain deadlocked in a festering political crisis that threatens to re-ignite simmering sectarian tensions in the country.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government, dominated by Iraq's majority Shi'ites, issued an arrest warrant for the country's top Sunni politician last month. The Sunni official, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, is currently holed up in Iraq's Kurdish north - effectively out of reach of state security forces.

Al-Maliki's main political rival, the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, is boycotting parliament sessions and Cabinet meetings to protest what they say are efforts by the government to consolidate power and marginalise them.

- AP