Bombs kill 95 in Baghdad; deadliest day since U.S. withdrew from Iraq’s cities
A truck bomb explosion left a huge crater outside the Foreign Ministry building in Baghdad on Wednesday. (AFP photo)
A series of powerful explosions reverberated across the heart of Baghdad today, killing 95 people and wounding 536 on the deadliest day in the capital since U.S. forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq’s cities June 30.
The main targets were the Finance and Foreign ministries, which were shaken by massive explosions minutes apart, demonstrating that the insurgency still has the capacity to strike at will against major institutions.
In the first attack, a car bomb demolished a bridge beside the Finance Ministry.
Fifteen minutes later, a truck bombing on the edge of the fortified Green Zone outside the Foreign Ministry rattled windows across the city and killed dozens of people.
The bombing ignited several cars and left a crater in the road outside the ministry, where scores of employees were injured by flying glass, a witness said. Windows were shattered at the nearby Rashid Hotel, home to many politicians, and at the parliament building across the street.
It appeared that most of the casualties were from the second explosion, but police said they did not have an accurate breakdown.
About the same time, two mortar shells or rockets landed in a busy central Baghdad market area, damaging one of the bridges spanning the Tigris River and killing at least six people. Fifteen minutes later, two smaller explosions in a west Baghdad neighborhood killed two people.
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