Blasts kill 62 in Shiite area of Baghdad

[TomInTib]

Everything is just like Christmas, ain't it?

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Car bombs and a rocket barrage struck a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 62 people, a municipal official said. The rockets apparently were fired from a mostly Sunni district targeted by U.S. troops in a crackdown against the sectarian violence roiling the capital.

About 140 were injured in the attack on the Zafraniyah neighborhood in southern Baghdad, which began about 7:15 p.m. with two car bombs and a barrage of an estimated nine rockets, Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Saddoun Abu al-Ula said.

He said the barrage heavily damaged three buildings, including a multi-story apartment house that collapsed. Al-Ula said the rockets appeared to have been fired from the neighborhood of Dora, which has been the focus of thousands of U.S. troops sent to try to restore peace in Baghdad.

The head of a municipal council, Mohammed al-Rubaie, told Iraqi government television Monday that the death toll had risen to 62. He gave no precise number of injured but officials late Sunday put the figure at more than 140.

Several large explosions were heard in central Baghdad at sunrise Monday, but it was unclear where they came from.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060814/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[evox]

1. For some reason

it seems like Shiites are the number one victims in Iraq.

[Selatius]

2. They've been killing each other for a while now

This is just the latest incident between Sunni and Shi'ite elements fighting each other.

[Tin Man]

3. Iraq has become totally FUBAR. Mission Accomplishitfucked, Monkeyboy.

I just wonder how long it'll take the Corporate Media to recognize and begin reporting how hopelessly fucked Iraq has become.

[cal04]

4. Stunned Iraqis angered at blasts that killed 56

A day after a series of blasts killed at least 56 people, the dazed residents of Zaafaraniya are still wondering what hit them.

(snip)
One man stood frozen in his blood-soaked white robe staring ahead as a huge tractor removed large chunks of broken concrete.

His furious relative blamed the attack on U.S. troops, who along with Iraqi forces launched a security crackdown last week designed to defeat insurgents, reduce sectarian violence and prove they can take control of the capital.

"My sister, three or four brothers and sisters, are buried in there with children," yelled Abdel Wahid. "It was all American shelling."

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/08/14/stunned_iraqis_angered_at_blasts_that_killed_56/