Two car bombs killed more than 50 people in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq
Two car bombs killed more than 50 people in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq on Tuesday, a sudden spasm of violence in places which had been comparatively quiet while battles raged in the Shi'ite south. Suspicion in the attacks will fall on al Qaeda, given the Sunni Arab militant group's history of using car bombs. In one of the deadliest strikes in months, one car bomb killed 40 people and wounded 80 outside a provincial government headquarters in Baquba, local capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad, police said.
Police said the blast killed people on the busy streets and in their cars as they were passing the location. Women and children were among the victims. US forces put the death toll at 36, with 67 wounded. It said three buses were destroyed and 10 shops damaged. Medical sources said ambulances struggled to get the wounded to hospitals because of the sheer number of victims.
A second car bomb, believed to be driven by a suicide attacker, exploded outside a popular restaurant in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province west of Baghdad, killing 13 people and wounding 14 others, a hospital source and police said. Diyala, a multi-ethnic region, has been the scene of operations against al Qaeda by US and Iraqi forces in recent months. The strikes were a reminder of the instability in the Sunni Arab areas at a time when attention has been focused on fighting in Shi'ite areas that erupted last month.
Al Qaeda fighters have often sought sanctuary in these areas to help them blend in and take advantage of Sunni grievances. But besides attacks on security forces and officials, they have also frequently exploded car bombs in public places to cause as much carnage as possible, irrespective of which sect bystanders are from.
Most US troops in Iraq are deployed in Sunni Arab areas, which have become quieter over the past year. But commanders say militant groups like al Qaeda still have the capability of staging large-scale strikes.
Tuesday's attacks could signal a new campaign by Sunni Arab militants. On Monday, a suicide attacker and two car bombs killed 18 people in northern areas where al Qaeda is active. Al Qaeda militants have regrouped in provinces north of Baghdad such as Diyala after being pushed out of Anbar and the capital by a "surge" of US forces in Iraq over the past year.15/04/08 metro
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