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Car bomb in Baghdad kills 136 people and injures 600.
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Iraqi soldier stands guard at bomb site (AP Photo)
Baghdad, Iraq - Two suicide car bombs detonated inside Downtown Baghdad Sunday. The blast caused extensive physical damage to surrounding structures, killed 136 people, and injured another 600 people. Although no groups have claimed responsibility for the attack, they were clearly targeting the Iraqi Justice and administration buildings. Police say that the attacks are aimed at disrupting and destabilizing democracy as January elections approach.
Iraqi authorities issued warnings long ago that insurgent attacks would increase as the January elections approached. The aim is to disrupt the electoral process and spark destabilization in both the government and social elements of Iraq. This is the largest attack seen since the height of the sectarian violence in the region in 2006-2007. It is not expected to be the last attack aimed at destabilization, police say. What is alarming is the place in which the bombing took place is considered one of the most secure in the country.
The Justice Department and Baghdad regional administration buildings are located near the highly secure "Green Zone." It is there that the Prime Minister’s offices and the U.S. Embassy are located. No embassy personnel were injured or killed in the blast. The street on which the attacks occurred had only recently been re-opened as a sign of growing safety in the area. There is no doubting that the secondary purpose behind the attacks is to cause increased fear among the populous and to make the government look foolish.
The attacks also demonstrate that the insurgents remain quite capable of planning, supplying, and executing high yield attacks against its enemies. This seems greatly contradict statements made by the Obama White House regarding insurgent capabilities in Iraq. According to Iraqi police, two vehicles, loaded with high explosives, were stationed in a parking garage next to the buildings when they exploded.
After the explosion, emergency responders raced to the scene as dark black smoke billowed-up in a huge column, visible from miles around. Civilian cars were commandeered to transport the many wounded to six different hospitals in the surrounding area. Hospitals reported jointly that as many as six hundred people were treated for injuries received from the blast.
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