Suicide car bomb outside Baghdad hospital kills 31
BAGHDAD - Agence France-Presse
A resident inspects the site of a bomb attack inside a coffee shop in Baghdad January 27, 2012. REUTERS photo
A suicide bomber set off an explosives-packed car outside a Baghdad hospital today, killing 31 people in the capital's deadliest day in a month, amid a political crisis that has stoked tensions.The attack in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood, which also left 60 people wounded, came days after Al-Qaeda warned it would continue targeting Shiite Muslims and barely a month after US troops completed their withdrawal, raising fresh concerns about the capabilities of domestic security forces.
The 11:00 am (0800 GMT) attack struck outside Zafraniyah hospital in east Baghdad as a funeral procession was transporting the bodies of a family who had been killed in the capital on Thursday.
Helicopters flew overhead as a heavy security presence cordoned off the site of the explosion, while distraught witnesses screamed in anguish.
Outside the hospital, groups of men called out names, searching for missing relatives.
Inside, people crowded around medics to ask about their loved ones, but one nurse said simply: "I cannot tell you anything -- there are only arms and legs, we do not know who they belong to." A policeman at the scene, who declined to be identified, said: "The suicide bomber targeted the funeral procession.
"They were following a tradition that you carry the bodies of the dead from the hospital for a short while before transporting them in a car. At that moment, the suicide bomber attacked," said the policeman, who was unhurt but covered in dust and debris from the bombing.
Several nearby shops and houses were burned or destroyed, with many of their windows shattered, while an ambulance and multiple cars were completely burned.
A medic at Zafraniyah hospital said the attack killed 28 people and wounded 50. At least four women were among the dead.
The blast hit the funeral procession of Mohammed al-Maliki, a real estate agent who was killed along with his wife and son in west Baghdad on Thursday.
Maliki and his family were killed by gunmen in Yarmuk, although there have been differing accounts of the attack itself.
A doctor at Yarmuk hospital said the attackers burst into a real estate agency and killed three, while a security official said four people, including two real estate agents, died when gunmen opened fire on their car.
Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. More than 200 people have been killed in attacks since American forces completed their pullout on December 18, according to an AFP tally.
Today's blast came a day after violence in Iraq killed 17 people, and is the capital's bloodiest day since a wave of bombings in Baghdad killed 60 people on December 22.
U.S. troops completed their pullout nearly nine years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, leaving behind a domestic security force that officials say is capable of maintaining internal security, if not defending Iraq's borders, airspace and territorial waters.
The Zafraniyah attack comes amid a month-long political crisis that has pitted the Shiite-led government against the main Sunni-backed bloc, stoking sectarian tensions.
The row erupted when authorities charged Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi with running a death squad and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, called for his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlak to be sacked after the latter said the premier was "worse than Saddam Hussein".
The United Nations and the United States have urged calm and called for dialogue but oft-mooted talks among Iraq's political leaders have yet to take place.
Messages have meanwhile been posted by al-Qaeda supporters on the Honein jihadist forum vowing further attacks targeting Iraqi Shiites.
