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161 killed in bombings in Baghdad's Sadr City

Iraqi leaders struggle to gain control as sectarian violence rages on.

By TIMES WIRES
Published November 24, 2006

BAGHDAD - Sunni Muslim insurgents blew up five car bombs and fired mortars into Baghdad's largest Shiite district Thursday, killing at least 161 people and wounding 257 in a dramatic attack that sent the U.S. ambassador racing to meet with Iraqi leaders in an effort to contain the growing sectarian war.

Shiite mortar teams quickly retaliated, firing 10 shells at Sunni Islam's most important shrine in Baghdad, badly damaging the Abu Hanifa mosque and killing one person. Eight more rounds slammed down near the offices of the Association of Muslim Scholars, the top Sunni Muslim organization in Iraq, setting nearby houses on fire.

Earlier in the day, U.S. and Iraqi forces fought off a violent insurgent takeover attempt at the Shiite-led Ministry of Health in Baghdad. About 30 insurgents fired on the building for nearly two hours before fleeing when troops arrived, police and ministry officials said.

In a televised address to his besieged nation, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged to hunt down those responsible for the bloodshed in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad. Maliki urged calm and warned of harsh tactics to deal with sectarian factions.

Iraq's government imposed a curfew in the capital and also closed the international airport.

In a rare show of unity, Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni political leaders issued a joint statement condemning the attacks and demanding a review of Maliki's security plan for Baghdad.

The car bombs sent thick pillars of smoke into the air, destroyed dozens of vehicles and shop fronts, and scattered charred, bloodied bodies. Rescuers evacuated wounded victims from the bomb sites using cars and wooden carts, as residents and Shiite militiamen flooded the streets of the working-class enclave, waving assault rifles, shouting epithets against Sunni Arabs and the government, and vowing revenge.

"I'm very, very angry because the government did nothing for us," said Muhammad Ali Muhammad, a 27-year-old laborer in Sadr City. "There's no protection for us."

Government security forces, in an effort to prevent a chain reaction of violence, flooded the neighborhoods around Sadr City.

Top government officials held an emergency meeting at the home of Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, which was also attended by President Jalal Talabani, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, an aide to Hakim told the Associated Press.

The first of the Sadr City car bombs exploded about 3:15 p.m. local time, police said. The others were detonated at 15 minute intervals, police said.

The death toll from the coordinated attacks appeared to be the second-highest since the invasion of Iraq. A coordinated series of attacks in March 2004 in Baghdad and Karbala left at least 181 dead. The single deadliest bombing, which took place in Hilla on Feb. 28, 2005, killed at least 122 people and wounded 170.

Iraq is suffering through a period of unparalleled violence. The United Nations said Wednesday that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the most in any month since the war began 44 months ago, and a figure certain to be eclipsed in November.

Counting those killed in Sadr City, at least 233 people died or were found dead across Iraq on Thursday.

Before dawn Thursday, U.S. and Iraqi forces searching for a kidnapped American soldier, Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, 41, swept through an area of Sadr City, killing four Iraqis, wounding eight and detaining five, police said.

The American military also said Thursday that three Marines were killed while fighting in Anbar province.

Two other mortar barrages on Sunni neighborhoods in west Baghdad killed nine and wounded 21, police said late Thursday.

The bloodshed underlined the impotence of the Iraqi army and police to quell determined sectarian extremists at a time when the Bush administration appears to be considering a move to accelerate the handover of security responsibilities. President Bush plans to visit the region next week to discuss the security situation with Maliki.

"We condemn such acts of senseless violence that are clearly aimed at undermining the Iraqi people's hopes for a peaceful and stable Iraq," said Jeanie Mamo, a White House spokeswoman.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the pre-eminent Shiite religious figure in Iraq, condemned the bombings and issued condolences to family members of those who were killed. He called for self-control among his followers.

The attacks came on the eve of a ceremony to commemorate the death of the father of militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia keeps a firm grip on the densely populated warrens of Sadr City. The event was rescheduled for Sunday in the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf, where burials are planned for many of the victims from Thursday's bombings.

The rebel cleric and militia commander issued a statement from Najaf calling Sadr City residents "the lions of Iraq" and ordering his followers not to let further violence blight the anniversary of his father's death.

Sheikh Abdel Hadi al-Mohammedawi, head of Sadr's offices in west Baghdad, said the Mahdi Army has called for patience and self-control among its members but predicted individual acts of revenge not condoned by militia leaders.

"I believe civil war will happen now, though I pray to God it won't," Mohammedawi said. "The ones who conduct these attacks must realize that everybody will lose in the end. Everybody will attack everybody. Neighbors will attack neighbors."

Information from the Associated Press, McClatchy Newspapers and the New York Times was used in this report.

[Last modified November 24, 2006, 01:29:30]