Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Bomb kills 13 in Shiite holy city
Security, Religion
(AFP) A suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint in the Shiite holy city of Najaf on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens more, police said. Najaf's governor, Assaad Abu Gilel, said the dead were seven police, three women and three children. The attack targeted a police checkpoint in Maydan Square near Najaf's old city, which holds the mausoleum of Imam Ali, the holiest site in Shiite Islam, and the offices of several leading clerics.
"This was a terrorist operation. The police checkpoint prevented the car from entering the old city, so the terrorist blew himself on the spot," the governor said. Gilel said authorities had received intelligence reports that several car bombers were targeting Shiite provinces in central Iraq, and that five bombs had been found and made safe in neighbouring Karbala and Babil.
A medic said the city's Al-Hakim hospital was treating 34 people wounded in the blast. Najaf is an almost entirely Shiite city and security is controlled by local Iraqi units rather than US-led forces. It has been spared the worst of the sectarian war raging elsewhere in central Iraq. Nevertheless, it has been attacked by Sunni extremists bent on provoking greater conflict and has seen killings linked to Shiite political in-fighting.
"This was a terrorist operation. The police checkpoint prevented the car from entering the old city, so the terrorist blew himself on the spot," the governor said. Gilel said authorities had received intelligence reports that several car bombers were targeting Shiite provinces in central Iraq, and that five bombs had been found and made safe in neighbouring Karbala and Babil.
A medic said the city's Al-Hakim hospital was treating 34 people wounded in the blast. Najaf is an almost entirely Shiite city and security is controlled by local Iraqi units rather than US-led forces. It has been spared the worst of the sectarian war raging elsewhere in central Iraq. Nevertheless, it has been attacked by Sunni extremists bent on provoking greater conflict and has seen killings linked to Shiite political in-fighting.
Labels: Najaf, suicide bomber
