Car bombs target state buildings in Baghdad

Source: Guardian
Tuesday 15 December 2009 08.55 GMT

The aftermath of one of the car bomb attacks in Baghdad, Iraq. At least two other bombs went off, killing at least five people. Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP

A series of car bombs ripped through central Baghdad early today, killing five people and wounding at least 16 others in the latest attack in the Iraqi capital targeting an area with many government buildings, Iraqi officials said.
At least three explosions went off within minutes of each other near the heavily protected Green Zone, home to the US embassy, as well as the Iraqi parliament and other government offices. The attacks raise questions about Iraq's ability to protect itself and its citizens as US forces prepare to withdraw.
The explosions came exactly a week after suicide bombers killed 127 people and wounded more than 500 in five bombings across the capital – three of which appeared to target government buildings. Suicide bombers on 19 August and 25 October also targeted ministries and state buildings, leaving more than 250 people dead.
Two of today's car bombs were detonated near the foreign and immigration ministries; a third went off near the Iranian embassy, two police officials said. It was not clear whether those buildings were the targets. The foreign ministry was also targeted during the August bombing and is still being rebuilt.
Thick clouds of black smoke could be seen over the area. Firefighters and residents worked to put out fires, while Iraqi security forces tried to disperse crowds.
"I had just left my house to go to my school when the big explosion took place," said 12-year-old Mohammed Hussein, who lives nearby. "My father shouted at me to go back home. There is no need for school today."
The US military said it would send forensic and explosive experts to help Iraqi authorities investigate the bombings.
Lieutenant Brian Wierzbicki, a US military spokesman, said the military had reports of three or four explosions outside the Green Zone. He did not have any immediate reports of casualties. Iraqi officials said there were three explosions.
The blasts came at the start of the Iraqi working day. One cameraman was injured from a group of journalists waiting outside the Green Zone for a government-sponsored trip to a refugee camp near the Iranian border, said an Associated Press reporter at the scene.
It was not immediately known who was responsible for the bombings but insurgent groups associated with al-Qaida have claimed responsibility for the previous attacks. The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has also blamed loyalists of the late dictator Saddam Hussein.
Last week's bombings outraged Iraqi MPs who demanded that Maliki and his top aides be held accountable for gaping, and continuing, security breaches.
The US military has warned of a possible rise in violence as militants aim to destabilise the government ahead of the 7 March parliamentary elections.
The US has pinned the pace of its combat troop withdrawal, set to be completed by 31 August 2010, to the success of the Iraqi elections. The top US military commander in Iraq has ordered the bulk of US forces to remain in place until after the elections.
All but 50,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Iraq under a plan announced by President Barack Obama. Under an Iraqi-US security pact, the remainder of those troops will leave by the end of 2011.