IRAQ: Two car bombs in Baghdad, kill eight, wound 42

Eight dead and 42 wounded after two car bombs explode in Baghdad. A car bomb exploded next to civilians in Baghdad on Tuesday (October 9), killing two and wounding four others, police said. They said that the attack took place in al-Shaab district of northern Baghdad. "A car was parked here in the morning," said witness Abu Ibrahim. "We are workers who work in this area to earn our living and the blast took place close to us. Civilian cars were wrecked in the blast. Can you see the place? Is this a military area?," the witness said. Meanwhile, a car bomb that was parked inside a parking lot in central Baghdad exploded, killing six and wounding 38, police said. They said that the attack took place in a parking lot in al-Khilani square of central Baghdad. The military blames al Qaeda in Iraq for most mass-casualty attacks in the country. The group also often claims responsibility for killing officials and tribal leaders. Al Qaeda in Iraq is largely a homegrown organisation that the U.S. military says has foreign leadership and links to the main al Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden. Washington and U.S. commanders have said a security crackdown involving 30,000 extra U.S. troops helped bring down U.S. military and Iraqi civilian deaths in September, but they say there is still too much violence in the country. The crackdown is designed to buy time for Iraq's feuding leaders to pass laws aimed at reconciling majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs, who were dominant under Saddam.

ITN Source | October 10, 2007

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