IRAQ: Car bombs in Baghdad and Samarra claim lives and wound scores of Iraqi civilians; rockets land in residential area in Baghdad, killing five civilians

A suicide car bomber rammed his car into the house of Khalid al-Flayeh, a Sunni leader of the Bazi tribe, in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of the capital Baghdad on Wednesday (September 20), police and a Reuters cameraman at the scene said. Police said that 10 people were killed and wounded 39 people, mostly women and children, were wounded in the attack, which took place Baghdad has become far more violent since February, when an attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Samarra triggered tit-for-tat sectarian killings by Sunni and Shi'ite militia. Thousands have died and thousands more have fled their homes. A car bomb exploded in a mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood in Baghdad on Thursday (September 21), killing two civilians and wounding nine others, police sources said. They said that the car was parked near electricity department building in a main street in Baghdad's western al-Hurriya district. Washington has rushed thousands of extra troops to Iraq this year in the face of escalating violence, and is moving some from the provinces to Baghdad. General John Abizaid said he had not expected he would need so many troops at this point, but they had proven necessary and would not be going home soon. At least five civilians were killed and four others wounded when katyosha rockets landed in a residential area in southwestern Baghdad, police said. They said the four Katyusha missiles landed in the mainly Shi'ite area of Abu Dsheer district in southwestern Baghdad. U.S. forces rushed to the area, blocking off the roads and preventing people from approaching. A roadside bomb exploded near civilians in eastern Baghdad on Thursday (September 21), wounding three civilians, police said. The attack took place in Baghdad al-Jadida district of eastern Baghdad. Witnesses at the scene of blast put the death toll at two civilians killed, with four others wounded. Bombs planted discreetly in streets are the favourite weapons used by insurgents against the U.S.-backed government and have killed thousands of police, security force members and civilians.

ITN Source | September 21, 2006

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