Weekend of Death In Iraq - Over 70 Dead From Coordinated Car Bombings and Attacks

 Iraqis walk past destroyed shops following car bomb in the Topchi neighborhood of northern Baghdad, on July 21, 2013. A wave of bombings killed 65 people in Baghdad province last night, officials said, as Iraq struggles to contain its worst violence since 2008, in which over 520 have died this month. — Photo by AFP


Iraq's streets turn red with blood once again.  Islam has a way of making every weekend count, doesn't it?

The story comes from DAWN.

Bombs on outskirts of Baghdad kill six


BAGHDAD: Two bombs killed six people on the outskirts of Baghdad early Sunday, as the death toll from a coordinated wave of late-night car bombings and other attacks the day before jumped past 70, according to authorities.

The explosions are the latest in a relentless surge in bloodshed that has rocked Iraq since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

They follow months of increased violence across the country that is raising fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Saturday night's blasts went off after the iftar meal that breaks the daily fast in the month of Ramadan.

Streets during the holy month are often filled with people out shopping and relaxing in cafes in the evenings, suggesting the attackers aimed to hit as many civilians as possible.

''What crime have those innocent people committed?'' asked Kadim Mohsen, who was surveying the previous night's damage in the central neighborhood of Karrada.

Several storefronts were wrecked by the force of an explosion there, and broken watermelons and sandals littered the street.

''Who will compensate owners of those shops?'' he asked. ''We see explosions every day. We blame the army and police.''

As the scale of the carnage became clearer early Sunday, police reported that a total of 12 car bombs went off in Baghdad late Saturday.

They said the blasts and a shooting in the same area as one of the explosions killed 57, including some who died in the hospital overnight. More than 125 were reported wounded.

Those attacks and others around Iraq on Saturday killed a total of 71, according to police and hospital officials.

That made for the country's deadliest day since May 17, when a series of explosions in Sunni areas in and around Baghdad killed at least 76 people.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the latest attacks, although coordinated bombings against Shias are a favorite tactic of Al Qaeda's Iraq branch.

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi urged security forces not to give up their fight against terrorists while demanding that they do more to prevent security breaches. Al-Nujaifi is a Sunni who is frequently critical of the Shia prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

''We strongly condemn the evil and criminal attacks that targeted our people,'' he said. ''These attacks are part of heinous efforts that aim to ignite unrest and sectarian strife.''

Al-Maliki ordered a shakeup among the military brass in May in the wake of a series of deadly attacks, but the move appears to have done little to slow the pace of the killing.

The violence continued Sunday.

A bomb exploded early in the day in a fish market in a market in the town of Taji, 20 kilometers north of Baghdad.

Police and hospital officials said that attacks killed four and wounded 15.

Another bomb exploded outside the house of a local anti-Qaeda Sunni militia leader in the town of Basmaiya, killing two and wounding four.

The town is about 40 kilometers southeast of the Iraqi capital.

The officials provided details of the attacks and casualties on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to release the information.

More than 450 people have been killed so far this month, including at least 284 since Ramadan began July 10, according to an Associated Press count.