The Common Ills: Over 50 dead as bombings slam Iraq

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Over 50 dead as bombings slam Iraq

Baghdad is again slammed with bombings today. Jomana Karadsheh (CNN) explains, "A series of bombings in Baghdad left 24 dead and dozens wounded Thursday, intensifying fears of an increase in sectarian violence in the midst of a political crisis." BBC News (link has text and video) adds, "The ministry told the BBC that at least 66 people were wounded in the blasts, which occurred in the capital's Sadr City and Kadhimiya neighbourhoods." Lee Moran (Daily Mail) notes things kicked off with a motorcycle bombing, then a roadside bombing followed by two more bombings.

Adrian Blomfield (Telegraph of London) observes, "For the second time in a fortnight, the Iraqi capital echoed to the wail of ambulance sirens as the fragility of the country's threadbare confessional consensus was exposed once again." Blomfield's noting the December 22nd Baghdad bombings: "Dan Morse and Aziz Alwan (Washington Post) count 17 bombings, 65 dead and 207 injured while Kareem Raheem (Reuters) notes the death toll has risen to 72." With attacks elsewhere in Iraq, today's final death toll may come close to or even surpass that number. AP is counting 30 dead in a southern Iraq bombing. AFP states it was a Nasiriyah roadside boombing. In addition to the 30 dead, Adrian Blomfield (Telegraph of London) reports the Nasiriyah bombing has left seventy-two injured. Reuters notes government officials are stating it wasn't a roadside bombing, it was a suicide bombing.

The bombings come in the midst of the country's political crisis. Al Jazeera notes:

Al Jazeera's [Dahr] Jamail said a meeting which was expected to take place later on Thursday at President Jalal Talabani's home in Baghdad had now been indefinitely postponed.
"It is still going to happen, according to groups, but we don't have a date yet," he said.
"The [Shia Islamist] Sadr bloc said they won't be a part of the meeting if the rival political group Asab al-Haq comes, for example, and the Hashemi situation is not to be discussed, according to Maliki", which further complicate the situation.

The following community sites -- plus Cindy Sheehan and NYT's At War -- updated last night and this morning: