Car bomb hits Baghdad booksellers district (23 killed and over 40 wounded)

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, March 5 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded on Mutanabi Street, a Baghdad district lined with book shops, killing several people and wounding many more on Monday, a Reuters witness at the scene said.

"I helped put seven wounded people into a police truck, they were covered with blood," said the witness, who works for Reuters, adding that there were several people killed and the windows of shops on the street were blown out.

There was no immediate word from police on the number of casualties, though police confirmed there was an explosion.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR532207.htm

updated links:

Car bomb kills 16 in Baghdad book district
BAGHDAD, March 5 (Reuters) - A car bomb exploded on Monday in the area of Mutanabi Street, a Baghdad district lined with book shops, killing at least 16 people and wounding many more, a Reuters witness and police said.

"There are many shops set on fire and more than 15 cars were burned out," said the witness, who works for Reuters, saying he helped several injured women into a police car that took seven casualties away to hospital. "They were covered with blood."

A police source said 16 people were killed and 34 wounded.

The source said a second bomb exploded in Bab al Muadham Street, very close to Mutanabi street, around the same time, and it was not immediately clear how many casualties there were from that explosion.

http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L0530288.htm


23 killed in Baghdad suicide bombing 1 minute ago



BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber struck a busy commercial district Monday, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 40, police said.

The attack near the well-known Mutanabi book market in central Baghdad was the first major blast in Baghdad in several days. It sent a huge pillar of black smoke above the city as flames spread to shops and cars.

The death toll from police was preliminary and could rise. At least 44 people were injured.

The commercial zone is mixed between Sunni- and Shiite-owned businesses and shoppers.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[truthisfreedom]

1. Why do I get the feeling that EVERY SINGLE ONE of these planned attacks is a success, and everything

we do in Iraq is a guaranteed failure?

Is this like the Germans against the French in WWII?

[aquart]

2. Not the worst analogy.

[maddezmom]

3. Central Baghdad car bomb kills 26, wounds 54

Central Baghdad car bomb kills 26, wounds 54
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Black smoke filled the skies over central Baghdad just before midday as a car bomb exploded in a busy commercial district, killing 26 people and wounding 54 others, Baghdad police said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/05/monday/index.html

[marmar]

4. Car bomb kills 28 at Baghdad market (AP, via Yahoo)

By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago



BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber shattered a relative lull in Baghdad's violence Monday, killing at least 28 people in a blast that touched off raging fires and a blizzard of bloodstained paper from a popular book market.

It was the largest bombing in the capital in three days, and came on the heels of a major push by nearly 1,200 U.S. and Iraqi troops into Sadr City, a Shiite militia stronghold and base for fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi troops in Sadr City set up checkpoints and took a far more visible presence than Americans, who led the push into the area Sunday. The move was an apparent attempt to avoid Shiite anger in a place of past street battles with U.S. forces.

But pressure on al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia continued on other fronts.

In the southern city of Karbala, the home of a Mahdi Army leader was raided in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation, the U.S. military said.

.....more at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070305/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[ShortnFiery]

5. I guess this means that

our illustrious General Peaches BetrayUs must now wait a little longer to broadcast the Surge's Progress Report? :thumbsdown:

Hello Congressional Democrats? Get our troops out of there ASAP! :grr:

[maddezmom]

6. Baghdad book market bombing kills 30, 65 wounded

Baghdad book market bombing kills 30 by Salam Faraj
15 minutes ago



BAGHDAD (AFP) - A car bomb ripped through Baghdad's oldest book market on Monday, killing 30 people, setting shops ablaze and leaving body parts scattered across the symbolic heart of Iraq's intellectual life.

At least 65 people were also wounded in the powerful blast on Mutanabi Street, an ancient centre of learning and culture and a rare pleasure for the capital's war-weary citizens, a security official said.

Many shops packed with books caught fire and the market was littered with blood-splattered pages after the attack, the latest assault on a US-Iraqi plan aimed at stemming bloodshed in the capital.

By nightfall, thick black smoke which had earlier stained the blue spring skies over the Tigris was still billowing from the site of the blast.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070305/ts_afp/iraq_070305162915;_ylt=AoW3GOz88xvtwR2gu73k46mQOrgF

[Eugene]

7. AP: 38 Die, 105 Hurt in Baghdad Market Blast

38 Die, 105 Hurt in Baghdad Market Blast


Monday March 5, 2007 10:46 PM

AP Photo BAG127, BAG125, BAG126

By BRIAN MURPHY

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide car bomber turned a venerable book market into a deadly
inferno and gunmen targeted Shiite pilgrims Monday as suspected Sunni insurgents brought
major bloodshed back into the lap of their main Shiite rivals. At least 38 people died
in the blast and seven pilgrims were killed.

The violence - after a relative three-day lull in Baghdad - was seen as another salvo in the
Sunni extremist campaign to provoke a sectarian civil war that could tear apart the Shiite-led
government and erase Washington's plans for Iraq.

The Shiite Mahdi Army militia has so far resisted full-scale retaliation through a combination
of self-interest and intense government pressure. But the militia's leader, the radical cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr, is now being cornered in new ways that have put him on the defensive.

-snip-

One possible sign of brewing troubles was 30 bullet-ridden bodies found across Baghdad.
Many of those killings are blamed on Shiite death squads, and Monday's figure was the
highest in weeks.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6459600,00.html

According to the article, the fire is still burning and the true
casualty count may not be known until tomorrow.