Baghdad rocked by wave of bombings

BAGHDAD: A series of concerted bombings ripped through Baghdad markets on Thursday as attacks across Iraq killed at least 27 people and left little doubt that a brief respite in the violence earlier in the week was over.   

Overnight at least a dozen mortar shells crashed down on Sunni neighborhoods in the capital, filling the night with flashes, smoke and the sound of explosions followed by gunfire.   

The renewed violence came as Iraqis welcomed the resignation of US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld after mid-term elections, even as they wondered what it meant for the future of US troops in the war-torn country.   

"The departure of Rumsfeld is not to be regretted and is a small consolation to the injured Iraqi people who have suffered so much from his policies and those of his aides," said a front-page editorial in the international edition of the Sunni-owned Al-Zaman newspaper.   

Elder Sunni politician Adnan al-Dulaimi, however, did not expect any immediate improvement in the situation because of the long-lasting effects of the policies implemented by Rumsfeld.   

"We think the mistakes that Rumsfeld committed in Iraq cannot be corrected because they are too deep and have left scars on the country," he said.   

Embattled Sunnis, in Baghdad especially, have expressed worry that a new Democratic-dominated Congress will force US troop cuts, leaving them more vulnerable to Shiite militias.   

However, powerful Shiite lawmaker Jalal al-Din al-Saghir, of the Supreme Islamic Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, doubted that the Democrats would be able to change US policy on Iraq very much.   

"Iraq is an American responsibility regardless of who is ruling in Washington," he said.

"The Democrats will change their tune the minute they take power because of the importance of what's going on."   

Sixteen people were killed on Thursday in Baghdad as the violent Iraqi capital was wracked by at least seven explosions, the worst being a suicide car bomb that exploded near the Mishin shopping center in the southeast of the city that killed seven people and wounded 27.   

Police said that a mortar shell was fired at the site to lure people in before the car bomber detonated his vehicle, ensuring maximum casualties. A bomb then exploded in the Suq Haraj market in the capital's Bab al-Sharqi area, killing three and wounding 19, a medic at Al-Kindi hospital said.   

Soon afterwards, northeast Baghdad's mixed Sunni-Shiite Qahira neighborhood was hit by a blast which shook the Faraj market, killing three people and wounding 12. The nearby College of Fine Arts was also attacked by a car bomb that killed two more and wounded three others.   

The blasts all over the city were a complement to violence on Wednesday when mainly mortar attacks also caused heavy casualties.   

Security forces were targeted as well, with one bomb near an Iraqi army patrol killing a soldier and wounding four passers-by on east Baghdad's Palestine Street. Three policemen were also wounded in a roadside bombing near central Baghdad's Al-Shaab stadium.   

Iraq's other flashpoint city of Baquba, northeast of the capital, reported 10 deaths in numerous incidents. An Iraqi army source said 34 people were also arrested in Baquba for carrying out violent attacks. They included five Egyptians and five Sudanese, the source said.   

Police also recovered nine bodies Thursday of people killed in sectarian bloodshed.   

Deep in the south of the country, meanwhile, one civilian was killed and another three were wounded when a bomb exploded near their car northeast of the city of Amara, a security official said.   

A wave of violence erupted in Baghdad and other volatile regions when a round-the-clock curfew was lifted on Tuesday.   

It was imposed Sunday to thwart any attacks during the Iraqi High Tribunal hearing that pronounced its verdict in the first trial of Saddam Hussein.   

The deposed dictator was sentenced to death by hanging for ordering the execution of 148 Shiites from the village of Dujail in the 1980s.