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Baghdad blasts kill 77 as security criticised
Reuters - 1 hour 28 minutes ago
By Aseel Kami and Suadad al-Salhy
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BAGHDAD - A series of blasts in Baghdad killed 77 people and wounded 420 on one of Iraq's bloodiest days this year, renewing doubt over Iraqi forces' ability to maintain security after U.S. troops pulled out of urban areas.
Baghdad's security spokesman made a rare admission of culpability after the attacks, in which at least six blasts struck near government ministries and other targets at the heart of Iraq's Shi'ite-led administration.
"This operation shows negligence, and is considered a security breach, for which Iraqi forces must take most of the blame," Major General Qassim al-Moussawi told Iraqiya state TV.
The government said this month most of the city's blast walls would be removed within 40 days, a sign of confidence in its security forces after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban centres in June, and ahead of elections due in January.
Wednesday's blasts -- a rare coordinated attack on heavily guarded targets -- were the deadliest since the pull-back.
In one blast, a massive truck bomb close to a security checkpoint leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone blew out the windows of the nearby Foreign Ministry, sending shards of glass through busy offices, killing 47 people.
"The windows of the Foreign Ministry shattered, slaughtering the people inside. I could see ministry workers, journalists and security guards among the dead," said a distraught ministry employee who gave her name as Asia.
VIOLENCE AHEAD OF POLLS
The explosion was powerful enough to shatter some windows of Iraq's parliament building in the Green Zone. The attacks could undermine confidence in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead of the parliamentary election.
Maliki and others have said such bombings are likely to increase as the January poll nears.
"They are meant to convey a message to Iraqis and the world that insurgents are still there and can block the political process," said analyst Hameed Fadhel of Baghdad university.
"Today's attacks reveal a major deficiency and weakness of the security forces. They were organised and huge," he added.
No group claimed responsibility, but Moussawi said two members of al Qaeda had been arrested when another car bomb was intercepted.
Sunni Islamist groups like al Qaeda consider Shi'ites heretics, and have been blamed for a series of blasts in the last two months at mostly Shi'ite venues such as mosques both in the capital and in northern Iraq where insurgents have exploited rows between Kurds and Arabs.
POWERFUL BLAST
Another truck bomb in Baghdad's Waziriya district near the Finance Ministry killed 28 people, and caused widespread destruction, police said. Part of a raised highway near the building collapsed, a Reuters witness said.
"Suddenly a powerful blast shook the building and glass flew ... Most employees were wounded by the flying glass and others, including myself, suffered concussion ... I awoke with blood all over my face," said ministry worker Batoul al-Amri.
Iraqi lawmakers and other officials have blamed neighbouring states for fomenting violence in Iraq, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria. Analysts say that could be a ploy to detract from domestic disputes and failings.
Another explosion was close enough to Reuters' offices in central Baghdad's Karrada district to burst open windows and doors. Columns of smoke could be seen rising from several sites.
The Baghdad provincial government building came under mortar attack, police said, as did the Salhiya district in central Baghdad, home to army bases and a television station.
At least one suspected mortar landed near the United Nations compound in the Green Zone, startling U.N. workers marking the sixth anniversary of the destruction of their previous Baghdad headquarters by a truck bomb which killed envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and other staff, U.N. guards said.
The U.S. military said it had no reports of mortar fire.
In Bayaa, in southern Baghdad, a blast killed two people.
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