Bombs kill over 100 as Iraqi Christians mourn
Bombings occurred hours after a memorial service for some of the 52 hostages and police killed in Sunday's church raid.
A series of bombs rocked mainly Shi'ite areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 100 people and wounding dozens two days after al Qaida militants staged a bloodbath when they took hostages in a Christian church.
The bombings occurred hours after a memorial service for some of the 52 hostages and police killed in Sunday's church raid, and as the Iraqi government vowed to step up security for Iraq's Christian minority.
The third major assault in Iraq since Friday appeared to demonstrate that a weakened but stubborn insurgency has a greater capacity to carry out large-scale strikes than U.S. and Iraqi officials have acknowledged.
Iraq remains in political limbo almost eight months after an inconclusive election, raising fears that Sunni Islamist groups like al Qaeda might exploit the tensions to try and reignite sectarian war.
"The initial death toll we have so far is 40 killed, 80 wounded, I repeat, it is an initial death toll," Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said, adding that there had been 14 explosions in all.
"(They were) all in Shi'ite neighbourhoods."
Health Minister Saleh al-Hasnawi said 36 people died, but that could rise, and 320 were wounded, most of whom had been released from hospitals. One police source, who asked not to be named, said the eventual death toll could exceed 100.
One of the biggest explosions appeared to target restaurants and cafes in the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City.
The latest series of strikes came two months after the U.S. military formally ended combat operations in Iraq 7-1/2 years after the invasion, and the Iraqi security forces took on primary responsibility for protecting the public.
Sunday's attack was the worst against Iraq's Christians since 2003, and drove fear deep into the hearts of many Iraqi Christians who had so far resisted the urge to flee their
war-torn country.
"Why don't they tell us frankly if they aim at emptying the country of the Christians? This is our country. We will stick to it. It is absolutely barbaric to target people who are praying," Bishop Matti Shaba Matoka, head of the Syrian Catholic Parish in Baghdad, told Reuters at the memorial service.
Fourteen coffins
Security was tight around the Chaldean Saint Joseph Church, where the service was held. Fourteen coffins, draped in Iraqi flags, were lined up near the main podium. Wails echoed throughout the church during the service.
Moussawi said an investigation had been launched to find out how al Qaeda-linked gunmen managed to storm the church despite checkpoints, and that anyone found to have been negligent or complicit would be held accountable.
He said the assailants were disguised as guards working for a private security firm and carried fake identification.
Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim said authorities ordered the detention of the police commander in charge of the district where the church attack took place for questioning, a standard procedure after high-profile attacks.
Jassim vowed to step up security for Iraq's Christians.
"Christians are our folk and it's our duty to protect them. You can't imagine how much we regret what happened," he said.
Gunmen tied to an Iraqi al Qaeda offshoot seized the hostages at the Our Lady of Salvation Church, a Syrian Catholic cathedral, during Sunday mass, demanding the release of women they said had converted to Islam but were being detained by the
Coptic church in Egypt. Early reports said they also sought the release of al Qaeda prisoners in Iraq and Egypt.
The attack, which lasted several hours, ended when security forces raided the church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/bombs-kill-over-100-as-iraqi-christians-mourn-1.322526
