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A soldier inspects the remains of a vehicle used in a bomb attack in Baghdad’s Sadr city May 22, 2011. A string of bombings and explosions killed at least 13 people and wounded 74 in the Baghdad area yesterday, including a suicide bombing targeting Iraqi soldiers north of the capital, security officials said.
A string of bombings killed at least 15 people and wounded 74 more across Baghdad yesterday and two US troops were killed in central Iraq, officials said.
Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian conflict four years ago, but bombings, assassinations and attacks occur daily as the remaining US troops prepare to pull out of the country by the end of this year.
At least 11 Iraqi troops were killed when a bomber blew up his car among a group of soldiers investigating another car bomb outside a checkpoint on a main street in Taji, 20km north of Baghdad, said the capital’s security spokesman, Major-General Qassim al-Moussawi.
“Two vehicles exploded in Taji. The first was a parked car bomb. They were trying to defuse it, when another driver blew himself up,” he said.
The two US troops were killed on Sunday during operations in central Iraq, the US military said in a statement with no further details of when or how they died.
Iraqi security forces and police are often targeted by insurgents as Washington prepares to withdraw the last US troops at year-end, more than eight years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein from power.
Yesterday, four roadside bombs and a parked car bomb also targeted an Iraqi Federal Police base in Amil District, southwestern Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding 15 including three policemen, a security official said.
Two more people were killed and another seven were wounded by another roadside bomb planted near a hospital in Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad.
Iraqi forces will take over full control of security at the end of this year when the remaining 47,000 US troops are scheduled to leave Iraq. US troops are now mainly engaged in training and advising Iraqi forces.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said Iraqi forces are ready to contain internal threats. But he has called on Iraq’s main political parties to discuss the sensitive issue of whether to extend the presence of some US troops.
Some officials have suggested a small US force remain to assist Iraqis in areas such as intelligence and border security. But already the idea of US troops remaining has sparked street protests.
Three other soldiers were also killed yesterday by a bomb attached to their Iraqi army vehicle in the town of Tuz Khurmato 170km north of Baghdad, police said.
Three bombs targeting security forces killed 27 people last week in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, a disputed area with a mixed Arab and Kurd population and a potential flashpoint once US troops leave.
Santa Claus toys are displayed for sale during Christmas Eve along a street in Baghdad on December 24, 2010.
Normally on Christmas Eve, Ban Zaki puts on festive clothes and takes her family to Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation church for lively holiday celebrations.
Not this year.
Dressed in black and fighting back tears, she has brought her three children to the church to honour her late husband, who was killed along with 51 others when Iraqi forces stormed it after militants took hostages during Sunday mass on Oct 31.
“He died on this spot,” 49-year-old Zaki said, pointing to the marble floor of the Catholic church.
“This year, there will be no festivities, no celebrations. The images of the attack and how they killed my husband here in this place are still in front of my eyes. Those were four hours I won’t forget for the rest of my life,” she said.
The attack triggered a fresh exodus of Christians from some Iraqi cities amid renewed fears that Sunni Islamist militants were trying to drive Christians out of their homeland.
The UN refugee agency said last week that some 1,000 Christian families, roughly 6,000 people, had fled to Iraqi Kurdistan from Baghdad, Mosul and other areas.
Iraq’s Christians once numbered about 1.5 million. There are now believed to be about 850,000 out of a population estimated at 30 million.
In its latest threat, the Islamic State of Iraq, the local affiliate of al Qaeda, said this week that Iraqi Christians risked further attacks unless they pressured the Christian church in Egypt to release a group of people it said the church was holding after they had converted to Islam.
The group also warned Iraqi Christians against proselytising and fraternising with occupation forces.
Fearing further bloodshed, several church leaders in Iraq have urged Christians to keep Christmas low-key and limit celebrations to prayers and mass.
On Christmas Eve, the only sign of the holiday at downtown churches was a group of children rehearsing carols at Our Lady of Salvation. Their parents stood nearby, watching them anxiously.
CHURCH LIKE A FORTRESS
The threat of fresh attacks has led Iraqi security forces to erect high blast walls topped with barbed wire around Our Lady of Salvation and several other churches in Baghdad.
“These are a part of new security measures for the churches in Baghdad,” said fire-fighter Abed Aswad Mohammed, standing beside his fire truck at the Sacred Heart Church in the Karrada district in Baghdad.
For some parishioners, the protective walls are a depressing reminder of the dangers they face.
“I swear I burst into tears when I saw it for the first time,” said Khalid Yousif, a worshipper who came to Our Lady of Salvation with his two children.
“Look at it. It doesn’t look like a church. It looks like a fortress or a prison.”
He gestured at the church walls which still bear the marks of the attack. Beneath decorations of elegant Arabic calligraphy, the walls are riddled with bullet holes and in some places speckled with blood. All the windows are shattered.
On a green carpet before the altar, worshippers have placed pictures of the two priests and dozens of others killed in attack. Bouquets, wreaths and sprays of flowers adorn the spot.
Zaki, who was shot in the abdomen during the Oct. 31 attack, said she was planning to leave Iraq now, despite calls from religious leaders to keep the faith and stay.
“I was here on this ground bleeding,” she said, her voice breaking. “My husband was there, two or three meters a way from me, but I couldn’t reach him. I was afraid that if I move, they will kill me or my children, whom I held in a tight embrace.”
“I am not ready to make any more sacrifices,” Zaki said. “This is enough.”
Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law party won 89 seats in the Iraqi elections
Iyad Allawi's secular coalition narrowly won the March 7 vote
Iraq has suspended more than 50 electoral candidates.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged Iraqi leaders to resolve rows over the March elections and form a new government quickly, as more winning candidates risked being disqualified.
With a major US troop drawdown set for August hanging in the balance, Clinton amplified concerns among US officials over Iraq's long drawn-out effort to finalize the election results amid factional squabbling.
A judicial panel was set to rule Wednesday on the fate of nine other election-winning candidates who stand to be disqualified in a process that has thrown formation of the government into disarray.
On Monday, the panel eliminated at least one winning candidate and around 50 others who failed to secure parliamentary seats, drawing anger from former premier Iyad Allawi whose secular coalition narrowly won the March 7 vote.
One of those disqualified was a winning candidate from Allawi's Iraqiya bloc, which has alleged that it is being targeted by officials and religious parties who do not want him to obtain power.
Allawi, a Shiite, whose strong backing in Sunni Arab areas led him to defeat incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, also Shiite, 91 seats to 89, according to unofficial results, said Iraqiya would challenge the disqualifications.
Clinton appeared to echo concerns about the process of verifying the election results.
"The United States respects the legal avenues that Iraq has set up for challenges to candidates and to electoral results," the chief US diplomat said in a statement.
"However, for challenges to be credible and legitimate they must also be transparent and must accord with the laws and mechanisms established for the conduct of the elections," she said.
Clinton was careful to say the United States "does not support a particular party or candidate" and instead wants a "long-term partnership" with a stable, sovereign and self-reliant Iraq, as Washington cuts its troop presence there.
"The United States calls upon Iraq?s leaders to set aside their differences, respect the courageous ballots of the Iraqi people, and to form quickly a government, that is inclusive and represents the will of all Iraqis," she said.
The US ambassador to Baghdad, Christopher Hill, on Monday voiced concerns about delays that, almost seven weeks after the election, have left Iraq apparently no closer to forming a government after a tight election race.
In a news conference in Ankara, Allawi said his party's lawyers would object to the disqualifications at the appeals court. "I am sure we will be successful," Allawi said.
But he appeared less confident that the procedures being followed were fair.
"Frankly, we are very worried... the political process is now in the hands of a group of people from the Iraqi judiciary," Allawi said. "They pass or reverse decisions to their liking."
Although Allawi defeated Maliki, both fell massively short of the 163 seats needed to form a majority in a new 325-seat parliament, ushering in so far fruitless coalition negotiations between them and smaller parties.
Ali al-Lami, the chief of a controversial Justice and Accountability committee (JAC), whose recommendations were approved by a three-member judicial panel on Monday, said two of the 52 disqualified candidates had won seats in the election.
He said the decision was based on their links to the Baath party of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein. "Tomorrow, they will pronounce on nine other winners," Lami told AFP.
However, Hamdiyah al-Husseini, a senior official from the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Iraq's election authority, told state television late Monday only one winning candidate had been disqualified.
But a spokesman for the commission, Ayad al-Kilnani, confirmed to AFP Tuesday that 52 candidates had been disqualified, and that they would have a month to appeal the decision before a seven-judge panel.
A frame grab from the leaked video of the 2007 airstrike, confirmed as authentic by a senior US military official
The US military is reviewing a video of a controversial helicopter attack on a group of people in Iraq in 2007, officials say.
The review comes after footage of the attack was published online by the website WikiLeaks, gaining 4.1 million YouTube viewings.
There are, however, no plans to reopen an investigation into the case, a US Central Command spokesman says.
An earlier probe into the case cleared the helicopter crew of any war crimes.
"Military attorneys are looking at it," a US official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver and assistant Saeed Chmagh, 40, were both killed in the attack when their cameras were mistaken for weapons, US officials say.
"I would welcome a thorough new investigation. Reuters from the start has called for transparency and an objective inquiry so that all can learn lessons from this tragedy," Reuters editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said in a statement.
Relatives and colleagues of the Iraqi civilians killed in a 2007 American airstrike called yesterday for a further investigation to establish responsibility for the deaths after video footage of the attack emerged.
Among the 11 people killed in the shooting from a helicopter gunship in Baghdad were Saeed Chmagh and Namir Nour-Eldeen, Iraqi journalists with Reuters news agency, whose cameras and equipment were mistaken for weapons by soldiers.
Mr Chmagh’s brother, Safa, told The Times last night that no compensation or apology had ever been offered to the family by American forces. He said: “My mother and father are still alive and when they saw the video it was like it had happened yesterday.
“We saw the facts of the Americans in it. Since we found the truth now, we are going to sue the US soldiers that did it, we are going to sue them for murdering the two journalists.”
Khalid al-Anfari, a writer for Reuters who knew the two men, joined the calls for the case — which was investigated at brigade level in 2007 — to be reopened. “There should be further investigation, at least for the family to be satisfied that the blood of their sons has not gone without anyone feeling responsible,” he said.
He added that seeing the video had made him feel that the Iraqi civilians who died in American attacks “were innocent and this was just American mistakes”.
US military lawyers were reviewing the case last night. A military official said: “We’re looking at a reinvestigation because of a question of the rules of engagement. Were all the actions that are depicted on that video in parallel with the rules of engagement in effect at the time?”
Sarah Holewinski, the director of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict, said that it was hard to tell how many Iraqi civilians had been killed in similar incidents. She said: “Footage like this is rarely released so it’s difficult to tell whether or not this was an unusual incident.”
Mark Taylor, an expert on international law and a director at the Fafo Institute for International Studies in Norway, said the evidence indicated that there was a “case to be made that a war crime may have been commited”. The Iraqi Journalists’ Union said that another journalist, Aseel al-Obeidi, 28, was killed by the US military in Baghdad on March 10. The US Army usually offers about $2,500 (£1,640) in compensation to bereaved families, Ms Holewinski said.
An Iraqi woman react at the scene of a blast in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Massive explosions hit apartment buildings across Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and wounding scores more in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved election.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Massive explosions hit apartment buildings across Baghdad killing at least 34 and wounding more than 100 in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved electio
At least seven bombs ripped through apartment buildings across Baghdad Tuesday and another struck a market, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 180, authorities said.
The explosions were the latest in a five-day spree of attacks in and around the capital that have killed at least 119 people. Several bombs were planted inside empty apartments, the government said.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Massive explosions hit apartment buildings across Baghdad killing at least 34 and wounding more than 100 in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved election.
Iraqis inspect the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.
Iraqis gather at the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.
Maryam Abdullah, 3, is treated at a hospital in Baghdad after she was wounded in a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 49 people and wounding more than 160. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Massive explosions hit apartment buildings across Baghdad killing at least 34 and wounding more than 100 in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved election.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Massive explosions hit apartment buildings across Baghdad killing at least 34 and wounding more than 100 in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved election.
Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election.
An Iraqi policeman inspects the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. At least five massive bombs hit apartment buildings across the capital, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 130. It was the latest sign Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the unresolved election
The explosions took place in mostly Shiite neighbourhoods in the capital
A large explosion rocked the centre of Baghdad Tuesday morning, two days after triple suicide car bombings killed 30
The violence, which has largely targeted families and homes, is reminiscent of the sectarian bloodshed that tore Iraq apart from 2005 to 2007 and prompted the United States to send tens of thousands more troops to the front lines. Since that time, however, sectarian violence and attacks on civilians have flared in cycles, especially surrounding important events such as last month's still-disputed election.
Iraqi and U.S. officials both blamed the latest spike in attacks on al-Qaida insurgents seizing on gaping security lapses in the wake of political deadlock that has gripped the country since its March 7 parliamentary election failed to produce a clear winner.
"This is blamed on the power vacuum of course, and on how democracy is being raped in Iraq," former prime minister Ayad Allawi told The Associated Press in an interview. His political coalition, Iraqiya, came out ahead in last month's vote, narrowly edging Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's bloc by just two seats.
"Because people are sensing there are powers who want to obstruct the path of democracy, terrorists and al-Qaida are on the go," Allawi said. "I think their operations will increase in Iraq."
He also raised the prospect that the country's political impasse could last for months as both sides try to cobble together the majority needed to govern.
"It could either be formed in two months or it could last four or five months," he said.
Al-Maliki adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi challenged Allawi's suggestion that Iraqi security forces had let down their guard since the elections.
"It is true that terrorism and attacks are attributed to the political situation the country is experiencing, and we have faced terrorism before elections as well," al-Rikabi said. "Some parts are using terrorism events for political goals."
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman for Baghdad's operations command center, said the attackers detonated homemade bombs and, in one case, a car packed with explosives. He said there were at least seven blasts. The U.S. military in Baghdad said there were eight.
Al-Moussawi said is Iraq in a "state of war" with terrorists.
Police and medical officials said the death toll from Tuesday's explosions was at least 50, and that women and children were among the dead. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release information publicly.
The first blasts hit around 9:30 a.m. in the primarily Shiite neighborhood of Shula in northwest Baghdad, striking a residential building and an intersection about a mile away, according to police and hospital officials who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
College student Ali Hussein, 22, was riding the bus to school when one of the Shula bombs exploded. He described "people running in different directions with fear."
"Cars began to collide with one another in the street because of fear," said Hussein, who fled for home after the blast. "We saw a cloud of fire and black smoke rising from a building at the explosion site, and while we were terrified by this explosion, another one took place."
A few minutes later, at 9:45 a.m. a bomb left in a plastic bag exploded at a restaurant in the Allawi district downtown, near the Culture Ministry. Dozens of people gathered at the bomb site in the hours after the explosion, digging through bricks in the hopes of finding survivors.
Several of the bombs were planted inside empty apartments by renters who "lured the owners" by paying high prices for the properties, the government said in a statement.
Several hours later, a parked car bomb exploded in a market, killing six civilians, police and hospital officials.
The bombings were the fourth set of attacks with multiple casualties across Iraq in five days.
On Monday, a Shiite couple and four of their children were gunned down in their home outside Baghdad, while more than 40 were killed Sunday after suicide attackers detonated three car bombs near embassies in Baghdad. On Friday, gunmen went house-to-house in a Sunni area south of Baghdad, killing 24 villagers execution-style.
U.S. military and diplomatic officials have sought to downplay the possibility that Iraq is heading back down the path toward sectarian bloodshed.
"We're obviously concerned but we don't see the parallels with what happened a few years ago," U.S. Embassy spokesman Philip Frayne said. "We don't see a sectarian war breaking out again."
He noted that the Friday executions only targeted Sunnis, and are believed to be carried out by al-Qaida, which is a Sunni-based terror group.
Army Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, a U.S. military spokesman, also blamed al-Qaida for all of the attacks, which he described as "random acts of violence."
Experts said it was still too early to speculate on whether the violence signals the onslaught of a return to intense sectarian bloodshed, but voiced concerns that the country's political instability could stoke one.
"These attacks indicate a hopeless effort to mix cards and provoke sectarian dispute among people and turn Iraq again back to square one," said Dr. Hassan Kamil, a political analyst at Baghdad University.
"Politicians are busy in their preparations for the political process and on the other hand we don't have professional security, army and intelligence forces to depend on in keeping security."
At least eight explosions have rocked the Iraqi capital, killing at least 35 people and injuring more than 140 people.
The blasts targeted residential buildings in a mix of Sunni and Shia areas of Baghdad on Tuesday morning.
Police said two car bombs were detonated in Chkook, Khadamiya district, killing at least five people.
In Baghad's western Shula district, another car bomb exploded, causing some buildings to collapse. Several people died in the explosion, Iraqi security sources said.
Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Baghdad, said those attacks occurred in residential neighbourhoods of the capital.
"[Shula] is a mostly Shia neighbourhood. It used to be a former stronghold of the Mahdi Army, the armed wing of the Sadr movement," our correspondent said, referring to supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shia leader.
Target not clear
Shula has been a relatively quiet neighbourhood, having not seen been the target of attacks in recent months.
Police said another of the blasts was carried out by a suicide bomber, who detonated explosives on Haifa street in the central Salhiya neighbourhood, near the national museum.
Political unrest
Tuesday's co-ordinated strike follow similar attacks just two days earlier. On Sunday, three suicide car bombsnear foreign diplomatic missions killed at least 30 people and wounded hundreds more.
In the past five days, four attacks have left more than 100 people dead.
The spate of violent attacks comes as Iraqi politicians continue wranglings to form a coalition government following last month's general elections. No clear winner emerged from the poll.
The Sadr political bloc was expected to announce who it would back for prime minister on Tuesday after holding an unofficial referrendum among its supporters, but said late on Monday night that the decision was being postponed.
Nouri al-Maliki, the incumbent prime minister, is reported to have met the group last night, but no details of any agreement have emerged. The Sadr bloc has in the past indicated it would not support al-Maliki staying on for another term as prime minister.
Our correspondent in Baghdad said a lot of negotiations are taking place, but "no agreements so far, no progress, and there is a real fear that the security situation will deteriorate".
"Over the past few days we've been seeing car bombings, shootings, mortar round being fired, as well as improvised explosive device attacks".
A spate of attacks near polling stations in Baghdad killed at least 12 people and injured dozens despite tightened security as Iraq began an early voting on Thursday across the country for Sunday's parliamentary election.
More than 800,000 Iraqi soldiers, police, hospital staff and prisoners cast their votes in the voting which began early morning on Thursday, as they will not be able to go to the polls on the election day due to work.
Up to 458 polling centers were opened in Iraq's 18 provinces to receive the eligible people, most of whom were from the country's security forces, said Qassim al-Abboudi, a senior official with the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission.
Qassim Atta, spokesman of the Baghdad Operation Command, said that the Iraqi security forces have beefed up security for polling centers across Baghdad.
However, the voting was still overshadowed with three deadly bombings.
The first attack was a roadside bomb which detonated near a polling center in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of al-Hurriyah, killing five civilians and wounding 22 others. The polling center is ready to be used for Sunday's general elections.
In the afternoon, a suicide bomber struck a bus carrying Iraqi soldiers outside a polling center in Baghdad's western district of Mansour, killing three soldiers and wounding 15 others.
The attacker blew up his explosive belt as the soldiers were leaving the bus to a polling center, according to a police source.
Less than an hour later, another suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at Iraqi soldiers who were lining up at a school polling center in Bab al-Mu'dham area in downtown Baghdad. At least four soldiers were killed and 10 others injured.
On Wednesday, two suicide car bombers struck two government buildings in Baquba, capital of Diyala Province, and later a third suicide bomber blew himself at the Baquba hospital, targeting the wounded people who were transported to the hospital for treatment. The three blasts killed at least 30 people.
Last month, Abu Omer al-Baghdadi, leader of the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq, threatened to attack the country's parliamentary elections to prevent the voting process "by all possible means, primarily, the military means."
However, many Iraqis, including the injured people who were hit by triple suicide bombings in Diyala, still voted.
"I have lost my hand yesterday but I still have my right to vote to defy those who are killing innocent people. This is my hope," said Salim Mohammed, a medic who was wounded by a suicide bombing at the Baquba hospital.
According to electoral organizers, some 19 million Iraqis, including 1.4 million living abroad in 16 countries, are eligible to vote for the 325-seat Iraq's Council of Representatives with some 6,300 candidates.
The election is regarded crucial for the country's national reconciliation and political process as Iraq has been struggling to improve security situation in the past few years and preparing itself for a planned full withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2011.
Iraqi civil defence members inspect a damaged building after a bomb attack in Baghdad March 4, 2010.
An Iraqi policeman casts his vote at a polling station in Baghdad March 4, 2010. Over 800,000 Iraqis including security personnel, doctors, prisoners and people in hospital are set to vote on Thursday in a special parliamentary voting.
Hope: Security forces and rescuers search for survivors in the aftermath of the blast at the Finance Ministry
Horror: Iraqi security forces gather at the site of a blast near the Labour Ministry building in Baghdad
Devastation: Security personnel gather by a crater caused by one of the bombings
Tears: An Iraqi woman weeps at the sight of the carnage wreaked by the bombs
Blast: Smoke billows across the Iraqi capital following the series of explosions
Gory: Blood stains a car at the scene of a blast in Cairo Street, northern Baghdad
A man gestures at the wreckage of a car near the site of the blast outside the Labour Ministry building
Effort: A body is evacuated from the blast site near the Finance Ministry
Walking wounded: A soldier hurries a casualty out of danger following the blast at a Baghdad courthouse
A map showing the sites of the bomb attacks
At least 127 people were killed and more than 400 wounded yesterday in a series of co-ordinated car and suicide bombings in Baghdad.
Officials blamed the blasts - which targeted government buildings in the Iraqi capital - on Al Qaeda and said they were an attempt to undermine the auction of oilfield contracts this weekend.
The explosions came despite a security crackdown and underlined fears of renewed insurgency ahead of Iraqi national elections in March.
Former national security adviser Mowaffaq Al Rubaie said: 'Al Qaeda has been active in Baghdad recently.
'Their aim is to show the government is unable to protect civilians and deter the people from going to the ballot box.'
The first attack, at 10am local time (7am GMT), killed three policemen and a civilian in Dora in southern Baghdad. An hour later further blasts hit the Labour Ministry building, a court complex near the Iraqi-protected Green Zone and the new site of the Finance Ministry - after its previous building was destroyed by a suicide attack in August.
Another explosion tore through a nearby market and toppled at least one building. Rescue teams used cranes to pull away rubble in the search for survivors.
One who escaped, Ahmed Jabbar, cried: 'What crime have we committed? Children and women were buried under debris.'
Iraq's oil ministry said it would not cancel its tender of oilfield development contracts, due to be attended by the world's main oil companies.
The deals are seen as crucial to the country's efforts to raise the cash to rebuild after years of war and destruction.
Gordon Brown yesterday led international condemnation of the attacks.
Iraq's military spokesman blamed the carnage on an alliance of Al Qaeda in Iraq and members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath Party.
The U.S. military has sent some troops and forensic equipment to assist the Iraqis in the aftermath, said Army Master Sgt. Nicholas Conner, a military spokesman.
A Kurdish parliament member, Mohammed Shareef Ahmed, was among several lawmakers demanding a full-scale inquiry.
The parliament today is so angry toward the security services which we feel have failed to prevent these attacks ... We all feel - and all the world feels - that the Iraqi people are fed up of sufferings and something should be done to stop this,' he said.
The blasts are an embarrassment to Iraqi forces in their expanding role as front-line security as U.S. forces plan their withdrawal.
They came just before Iraqi officials today confirmed March 6 as the date for next year's parliamentary elections, and not February 27, as had been widely expected.
Overall violence has dropped sharply around Iraq in the past year, but insurgents have stepped up attacks at government sites.
Iraqi officials blamed the October attacks on loyalists to the banned Baathist Party - even bringing out three suspects on national television who gave what officials termed confessions.
But there are questions whether Iraqi leaders seek to shift attention away from a possible resurgence of Sunni insurgents led by Al Qaeda in Iraq.
A rise in insurgent power could be a serious blow to the government's credibility before national elections.
Security forces are concerned the announcement could bring a further escalation in attacks seeking to discredit the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
On Monday, eight people were killed when a bomb exploded a school in Baghdad. Among the dead were six children.
A further five people were killed on the same day when gunmen stormed a checkpoint near Tarmiyah.
The bombings marked the most serious spate of violence in Baghdad since twin car bombs on October 25 struck outside Baghdad administration offices, killing at least 155 people.
The breakdown of casualties among the sites was not immediately clear, but the most serious bloodshed had been reported outside the new Finance Ministry building.
In August, suicide bombers hit the finance and foreign ministries, killing more than 100 peop
An Iraqi man is lifted off the ground as he grieves following the bomb blast outside offices of the governor of Baghdad
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (right) visits the site of the bomb attacks yesterday afternoon
Devastation: Burnt bodies spill out of a blown-up overturned car
Grim: Rescuers carry a burnt body from the scene
An amateur video captures the moment one of the car bombs explodes
Carnage: A pair of powerful explosions went off near the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad and the offices of a Kurdish political party during yesterday's morning rush hour as people headed to work
Aftermath: An injured man speaks on his mobile phone as he sits outside the Karama hospital following yesterday's explosions
Iraqis inspect the badly damaged building of the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.
Fire fighters load into an ambulance the body of a man killed by a massive bomb attack at the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.
Mourners attend the funeral of a victim who was killed in a suicide bombing grieve at his funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. On Sunday, at least 147 people were killed and 721 were wounded in two suicide bombings in the country's deadliest attack in more than two years.
Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack at the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.
Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a massive bomb attack at the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.
An Iraqi Army soldier stands guard as Iraqis gather at the site of a massive bomb attack at the Ministry of Justice in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. Iraq police say that a pair of powerful explosions rocked downtown Baghdad. The blasts went off in front of the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration and near the Ministry of Justice building during the morning rush hour as people headed to work.
Al-Qaida's umbrella group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in Baghdad that killed at least 155 people this week.
The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, says in a statement posted on the Internet that its "martyrs ... targeted the dens of infidelity."
The authenticity of the statement, posted late Monday on a Web site commonly used for militant messaging, could not be independently confirmed.
The same group also claimed responsibility for August bombings of two government ministries in Baghdad, when more than 100 people were killed.
Three major government buildings were destroyed or severely damaged in Sunday's blasts. The dead included two dozen children trapped in a bus leaving a day care center.
An al Qaeda-linked group has said it carried out the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday and revived doubts about security in the run-up to Iraq's elections in January.
The statement dated October 26 was posted by the Islamic State in Iraq group on a website often used by militants to announce responsibility for such attacks.
"Suicide bombers targeted the dens of infidelity and pillars of the rejectionist Shi'ite state in the land of the caliphate," the statement said.
It employed language often used by Sunni Arab militants to describe the Shi'ite Muslim majority that has dominated the Iraqi government since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
"Among the chosen targets were the ministry of oppression known as the ministry of justice and the Baghdad provincial assembly ... The enemies only understand the language of force," said the statement.
The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified.
The same group has said it was behind attacks near government ministries in Baghdad that killed 95 people in August.
Officials have said two mini-buses were used in Sunday's attacks, circumventing a ban on truck traffic in heavily policed central Baghdad.
Both were driven by suicide bombers from a nearby site, according to aerial images from U.S.-operated airships that hover over the city.
The January ballot is expected to focus on security gains under Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after years of war and sticky questions about the distribution of power and oil wealth.
Insurgents are widely expected to try and upset an electoral process that is meant to prepare the way for an ordered withdrawal of most U.S. troops from Iraq.
-Men inspect cars destroyed in a car bomb explosion near the Finance Ministry in northern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of deadly explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing scores of people and wounding many more Iraqi police and medical officials said-
-Smoke billows near the Iraqi Foreign Ministry after a massive bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of explosions struck the Iraqi capital Wednesday, targeting primarily government and commercial buildings, killing dozens of people and wounding many more Iraqi officials said-
-An Iraqi soldier is seen near the wreckage of a car bomb explosion near the Finance Ministry in northern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of deadly explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing scores of people and wounding many more Iraqi police and medical officials said=
An Iraqi man walks past a destroyed vehicle after a car bomb explosion near the Finance Ministry in northern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of deadly explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing scores of people and wounding many more Iraqi police and medical officials said- -Layla Mohammed is treated for head wounds after a massive bomb attack on the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of deadly explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing dozens and wounding more than 300, Iraqi police and medical officials said.-
-Iraqi policemen inspect cars destroyed in a car bomb explosion near the Finance Ministry in northern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of deadly explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing scores of people and wounding many more Iraqi police and medical officials said-
-Iraqi policemen and civilians stand in wreckage after a car bomb explosion near the Finance Ministry in northern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. A series of deadly explosions targeting government and commercial buildings struck Baghdad Wednesday, killing scores of people and wounding many more Iraqi police and medical officials said.-
At least two people have been killed in a bicycle bombing in Baghdad, a day after a series of bombings left 101 people dead and 500 more wounded in the Iraqi capital.
Police and medical officials said at least 10 people were injured in Thursday's bombing, when an explosive attached to a bicycle went off in a market near the commercial Al-Rasheed street.
More than 500 people also were wounded when nearly simultaneous truck bombs struck Iraq's Foreign and Finance ministries on Wednesday — the deadliest day of coordinated bombings in more than a year.
Iraq's prime minister has ordered a security review after the deadliest series of attacks in the country this year left 95 people dead in Baghdad.
Nouri Maliki called Wednesday's bombings "a desperate attempt to derail the political process" in Iraq.
Mr Maliki blamed the latest strikes on al-Qaida in Iraq and loyalists of the late president, Saddam Hussein, who was toppled after US-led forces invaded in 2003.
They included two truck bombings close to government ministries located in a part of the capital which has generally not been targeted in recent months.
He said Iraqi security forces were "very capable of confronting terrorists", but acknowledged that a security review was necessary.
"The criminal operations that happened today no doubt call for a re-evaluation of our plans and our security methods to face the terrorist challenges," he said in a statement.
The prime minister also said insurgents had taken advantage of government efforts to restore normalcy by removing concrete blast walls from main roads in Baghdad.
"These attacks represent a reaction to the opening of streets and bridges and the lifting of barriers inside the residential areas," he said.
An Iraqi army spokesman said two al-Qaeda members had been arrested in Baghdad in connection with the attacks.
There have so far been no claims of responsibility for the bombings.
Where are the explosion ?
The biggest explosion on Wednesday happened close to the foreign ministry, just outside the high-security Green Zone.
It was powerful enough to break windows at the parliament building inside the zone, which houses government and diplomatic buildings.
It also left a crater 3m (10ft) deep and 10m (33ft) in diameter, with the smouldering wreckage of cars scattered around the site of the explosion.
Minutes earlier, there had been another blast close to the finance ministry in another hitherto relatively safe area of the city.
At least four other explosions went off in other parts of Baghdad, including the southern district of Bayaa. Several mortars also fell inside the Green Zone itself.
An interior ministry official said more than 560 people had been injured in the attacks, which appeared to have been co-ordinated.
Attacks resumed on Thursday when the explosives-laden bicycle struck a restaurant shortly before 8 a.m. in downtown Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding 18, according to al-Moussawi's office.
