|
Death toll from Ashura Massacre at 182
I figure Ashura Massacreâs as a good name as any to call what happened in the last 24 hours.More than 182 people were killed and hundreds wounded in simultaneous bomb attacks in two Iraqi cities on the holiest day of the Shiite Muslim calender, with some blaming US forces for lax security. Messages poured in from around the world condemming the Tuesday attacks, the worst carnage since the fall of former dicator Saddam Hussein. Iraqâs leaders declared three days of mourning and postponed the signing of a temporary constitution, scheduled for Wednesday, possibly to Friday. Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members of Iraqâs Governing Council pointed the finger at Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, a wanted Jordanian suspected of ties to the Al-Qaeda terror group. "These sick people with guns are seeking to start sectarian strife so they can consolidate their positions," said Adel Abdel Mehdi of the main Shiite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). "Their aim is to stop Iraqis from winning their sovereignty." US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, who described the attacks as "very sophisticated," said they were closely coordinated by a "transnational organisation" and also named Zarqawi as a prime suspect. The attacks were blamed variously on suicide bombers, rockets or mortars, or, in Karbala, concealed bombs. In Karbala, where hundreds of thousands of Shiites, including Iranians, were taking part in the Ashura mourning ritual, at least 112 people were killed and 235 wounded in several coordinated blasts. A reporter at Karbalaâs main hospital saw dozens of bodies piled inside and outside while ambulances and private vehicles streamed in with casualties covered in blood-stained blankets. "I saw a man running into a group of Iranian pilgrims and exploding himself," Karbala police Captain Mahdi Ghanami told a news agency. "The bomb claimed 25 victims." A spokesman for Polish coalition forces, meanwhile, said two suspects were caught as they prepared to fire mortars on the city. In Baghdad, at least 70 people were killed and 321 wounded in coordinated suicide attack on the Kazimyah mosque in a Shiite district in the northwest of the capital. Three suicide bombers detonated explosives and a fourth wearing an explosive vest was apprehended, Kimmitt told reporters. He refused to give the nationality of the suspect. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-03-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=27327 |