Iraq - violence

Over 70 killed in two suicide bombings

Article published on the 2009-04-23 Latest update 2009-04-23 14:25 TU

A shocked woman at the scene of the Baghdad bombing
(Photo: Reuters)

Two suicide bombings have killed at least 73 people in Iraq. Iranian Shia-Muslim pilgrims were among the roughtly 45 dead killed in an attack in Muqdadiyah, north-east of Baghdad, while 28 died in an attack in the capital.

The deadliest strike, which also wounded 55 people, hit a restaurant in Muqdadiyah, in the ethnically and religiously mixed Diyala province. The pilgrims were heading for the Shia holy city of Karbala.

And 28 people died, including children in another suicide attack in south-eastern Baghdad, where police were distributing food to displaced people in an abandoned building, according to security officials.

An Interior Ministry official says that ten police and five children are maong the dead and that another 52 were wounded.

Security in Iraq had improved significantly in the last two years, but more than 100 people have been killed since the start of April.

The attacks look like an attempt to start a new wave of violence, says Paul Rodgers at the department of Peace Studies at Bradford University in Britain.

"It's probable that both the attacks are coming from Sunni paramilitaries and part of the purpose is really to get a strong antagonistic reaction from the majority Shia community and, indeed, from the government," he told RFI, adding that they also wanted "to demonstrate the power that these Sunni paramilitaries have".

Meanwhile, the Iraqi military say they have captured the man they say is head of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

They claim Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is leader of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella organisation for Al-Qaeda. In 2007 A US military spokesperson said that there was no such person, and that the group is merely internet-based.