Dozens die in Baghdad suicide car bombings

TWO suicide car bombers struck a crowded area outside a state-run bank yesterday in Baghdad, killing nearly 30 people in the latest attack targeting a high-profile part of the capital.

The blast, which tore the glass facade off the three-story Trade Bank of Iraq building, leaving chairs and desks exposed, occurred shortly after 11am as the area was packed with people at the start of the local work week.

Iraqi officials initially said the explosives-packed cars were parked a few hundred yards apart, but later said the attacks were staged by suicide bombers.

Security forces swarmed through the debris while cleanup crews used forklifts to move the charred wreckage of several vehicles destroyed by the blast.

The chairman of the Trade Bank of Iraq – which was established to facilitate international trade and reconstruction efforts – said five guards were among the dead and six others were wounded.

Hussein al-Uzri blamed insurgents trying to undermine Iraq’s progress and promised they would fail.

Persistent bombings in Baghdad and surrounding areas have raised fears that insurgents are stepping up attacks in a bid to foment unrest by exploiting the political deadlock following inconclusive March parliamentary elections.

Last week, suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militants stormed the central bank and exchanged gunfire with Iraqi security forces in a standoff that brought part of the capital to a standstill.

The ability of the insurgents to penetrate areas with tight security has raised questions about the readiness of Iraqi forces to take over their own security less than three months before all American combat troops are to leave the country, the first step toward a full withdrawal by the end of next year.

“The irresponsible acts of those politicians have encouraged al-Qaida sleeper cells to resume work and strike again,” said Ahmed Abdullah, an engineer in the Electricity Ministry. “Ordinary Iraqis are paying the price of the political struggle in Baghdad.”

The bank is in a commercial area surrounding Nisoor Square that includes a government agency that issues national identification cards and the telephone exchange building.

Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the main Iraqi military spokesman for Baghdad, said at least 18 people were killed and 42 wounded. But three Iraqi police officials and a doctor at the Yarmouk hospital where many victims were taken put the toll at 27 killed and 55 wounded.

A series of bombings and a rocket attack also struck the capital late on Saturday, killing five people.