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Kerbala car bomb kills 12, many wounded
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-19 21:24
A car bomb exploded in the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala Sunday, killing at
least 12 people and wounding more than 30, and insurgents also struck in
Baghdad, shooting dead three Election Commission employees.
Shortly afterwards, a separate explosion struck a market in Najaf -- another
Shi'ite religious city south of Kerbala. The blast took place near the city's
Imam Ali mosque, but there were no immediate reports of any dead or wounded.
A cameraman for Reuters who filmed the immediate aftermath of the Kerbala
attack said the ground around the city's open air bus station was littered with
dead and wounded.
The main hospital said 12 people were killed and at least 34 wounded, but an
official emphasized that it was a provisional toll and the numbers could rise.
He said all appeared to be civilians and there were many women and children
among them.
It was the second attack in five days in Kerbala, home to two important
Shi'ite shrines, putting the city at the center of concerns that Sunni militants
will exploit sectarian divisions to cause mayhem in the run up to Iraq's Jan. 30
election.
Wednesday, a bomb apparently targeting Shi'ite cleric Abdul Mehdi
al-Kerbalai, exploded as he was returning to his office after evening prayers at
the Imam Hussein shrine. Sunday's bomb was just a few hundred meters (yards)
away.
Ten people, including four of Kerbalai's bodyguards, were killed and more
than 30 wounded in Wednesday's attack, including the cleric, who is regarded as
close to Iraq's supreme Shi'ite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
It was the first major assault in the city since March, when coordinated
suicide bombings during an annual religious festival killed more than 90 people,
an act blamed on Sunni militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who allies
himself with al Qaeda.
ELECTION TARGET
In Baghdad, insurgents dragged three employees of Iraq's Electoral Commission
from a car and shot them dead, the latest in a series of attacks designed to
disrupt plans for the poll.
A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said three junior employees had been
killed in the assault but said it was unclear if they were targeted because they
worked with the commission, which is charged with conducting next month's vote.
"We don't know if they were targeted specifically," spokesman and Commission
board member Farid Ayar said.
Witnesses said insurgents opened fire on the vehicle before dragging three
people from it and shooting them. The car was set on fire and the bodies left
lying near the burning wreckage.
Guerrillas armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols then set up a
roadblock on the street, stopping and searching every car that passed, pointing
their guns in through the windows.
Fierce gunbattles ensued, witnesses said, as police tried for several hours
to get to the scene of the attack. U.S. military helicopters flew low overhead
scanning the area, which echoed with gunfire and small explosions, residents
said.
Haifa Street, on the west bank of the Tigris river, is home to about a dozen
apartment complexes built by Saddam Hussein for those he favored. Former regime
loyalists are believed to have built a stronghold in the area over the past 18
months.
THREAT TO HOSTAGES
U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned that attacks will be stepped up in the
run up to the election, Iraq's first fully democratic poll in nearly half a
century. The increasing concern is that attempts will be made to create
sectarian strife.
The bombs in Kerbala and Najaf are seen as part of that strategy, but Shi'ite
politicians said they would not be provoked.
Electoral officials say 14 of Iraq's 18 governorates are safe enough to hold
free and fair polls, but persistent violence in the remaining areas -- mostly
populated by Sunni Arabs -- has led Sunni organizations to call for an election
delay.
They fear that Sunnis, favored during Saddam's rule, will not be fully
represented in the poll, which is widely expected to see parties from Iraq's 60
percent Shi'ite majority, oppressed for decades by the former regime, brought to
power.
Militants kidnapped and are threatening to kill 10 Iraqis employed by a U.S.
security company unless the firm pulls out of Iraq, a caller from the militants
told Reuters. A tape broadcast by Arab satellite channels Sunday showed the
hostages.
It was not clear when the men were kidnapped. No deadline appears to have
been set for the threats to be carried out.
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