female bombers kill 72 in baghdad pet markets

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Friday February 1

Female bombers kill 72 at Baghdad pet markets
By Paul Tait and Aws Qusay


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Female suicide bombers killed 72 people inattacks blamed on al Qaeda at two popular Baghdad pet markets onFriday, the city's worst attacks in six months, dealing a blow toIraq's hopes that security is getting better.

Asoldier stands guard near the belongings of victims after a bomb attackin Baghdad February 1, 2008. Bomb blasts ripped through two popular petmarkets in Baghdad on Friday, killing 72 people in the deadliestattacks in the city in six months and dealing a bitter blow to Iraqihopes that security is getting better. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud)

Police said a female suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded 82at the Ghazil pet market in central Baghdad. Another blast 10 minutesearlier killed 27 people and wounded 67 at a bird market in southernBaghdad, police said.

The U.S. military, which gave lower casualty figures, said bothattacks were caused by female suicide bombers and blamed Sunni Islamistal Qaeda in Iraq.

"By targeting innocent Iraqis they show their true demoniccharacter," Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Stover, a spokesman for U.S.troops in Baghdad, said in a statement.

While attacks have fallen across Iraq in recent months, the blastsunderscore U.S. military warnings that al Qaeda remains dangerous and areturn to violence that took Iraq to the brink of sectarian civil waris still possible.

At the Ghazil market, one of Baghdad's most popular gatheringplaces, people stared at the destruction as workers swept up body partsand blood-stained animal boxes.

"I came here to enjoy myself. I don't know how I survived," saidwitness Abu Haider, who was covered in blood as he stood among ruinedstalls and carcasses of birds and other animals.

"I was right there at the scene when the blast happened. It knockedme over. When I managed to get up, I saw dozens had been killed andwounded," he said.

One witness said the female bomber entered the market saying she hadbirds to sell. Scores of people gathered and then the bomb underneathher clothing went off, the witness said.

DETONATED BY REMOTE CONTROL

Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi military inBaghdad, said both suicide bombs were detonated remotely by mobiletelephones.

"We found the mobiles used to detonate the women," he said.

Ambulances tried to push through packed streets to get to Ghazilafter the blast, which occurred in almost exactly the same spot as abombing which killed 13 people on Nov. 23.

Police and civil defence officials piled the wounded intowheelbarrows, cars and the back of pick-up trucks while U.S. soldiershelped secure the area. Officials at nearby hospitals said theystruggled to cope with the wounded.

"Most people who visit this market are poor and just want to enjoythemselves but they came and got killed," said Hassan Salman, who sellsbird seed at the Ghazil market.

The Ghazil market only opens on Fridays and sells a colourful rangeof creatures from guard dogs and monkeys to parrots, pigeons andtropical fish.

The November blast, caused by a bomb hidden inside a box of birds,was a big psychological blow for residents who had just begun returningto the streets after security crackdowns last year helped arrest aslide towards all-out sectarian civil war.
About 10 people killed in two separate blasts in the Ghazil market in January and February last year.

The latest blast was the worst single attack in Baghdad for sixmonths. Fifty people were killed when a fuel truck exploded in thecapital on Aug. 1 last year.

Violence has fallen sharply across Iraq, with the number of attacksdown 60 percent since last June, allowing Iraqis to venture out tomarkets and restaurants as they attempt to return to a semblance ofnormal life.

The declining violence has been attributed to 30,000 extra U.S.troops, which became fully deployed last June, and the growth ofprimarily Sunni Arab local police units.

On Thursday, Iraqi government figures showed that 466 Iraqicivilians had died violently in January, more than 76 percent lowerthan the 1,971 killed in January 2007.

amazed

Baghdad bermandi darah - Serangan pengebom wanita dalam dua letupan gegarkan ibukota Iraq

BAGHDAD 1 Feb.

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