Baghdad, Aug 19 (DPA) At least 48 people were killed and 279 wounded as some 10 explosions shook central Baghdad Wednesday morning, police and witnesses said.
In a coordinated wave of attacks, a powerful car bomb exploded near the finance ministry, severely damaging Mohammed al-Qassem street, an important thoroughfare, police told DPA.
A second car bomb exploded near the foreign ministry, near the heavily protected Green Zone, the site of most foreign embassies.
At least two mortar shells landed inside the Green Zone, while a third landed just outside, police said. Witnesses said they had heard at least 10 blasts, but the source of those blasts was not immediately clear.
Police said the explosions blew out the windows of the nearby parliament building, damaged nearby houses and shattered glass at the al-Rashid Hotel, where many visiting dignitaries and journalists stay.
“The Baathists are behind these massive blasts,” said Zeinab al-Kanani, a parliamentarian affiliated with Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s movement.
“All these explosions in Baghdad reflect the security forces’ negligence,” she said. “The interior and defence ministries should review their security plans.”
Wednesday was the sixth anniversary of a powerful bomb attack at the UN headquarters in Baghdad’s Green Zone that killed some 22 people. That bombing was the first large attack after US-led forces invaded Iraq and toppled the government of Saddam Hussein.
In recent months, attacks near the Green Zone have become rarer, and security has improved across the country.
According to the satellite news network al-Jazeera’s count, 275 people died in insurgent attacks in July, down from 437 the month before.
