Bombings kill over 100 in Baghdad

December 8, 2009

Iraqi police say a series of car bombings across the capital, Baghdad, killed at least 127 people, wounding hundreds of others.

Reports say three of today's blasts were coordinated. The first occurred at 10:25 local time (07:25 GMT), the others following within minutes. One of the bombs targeted the busy Shourja Market in central Baghdad, near to the Iraqi health ministry. The others were detonated near the Interior Ministry in eastern Baghdad and the Labor Ministry.

Police say that earlier, a suicide car bomber struck a police patrol in Dora, southern Baghdad, killing three policemen and twelve students at a local college. Another explosion in central Baghdad has also been reported.

The attacks come just two days after the Iraqi parliament passed a law vital for elections to be held early next year. Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, a former Iraqi security adviser, blamed al-Qaeda, saying they have been active in Baghdad recently and are trying to destabilize the government before elections.

"The aim is to show the government is unable to protect civilian[s] and its own people and also to deter people from going to ballot boxes," al-Rubaie said.

Tuesday's attacks were the worst in the Iraqi capital since late October when twin bomb attacks outside municipal offices killed at least 155 people.