Pet markets bombing in Baghdad leaves 230 casualties  

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq

Friday , 01 /02 /2008  Time 7:06:45

Baghdad , Feb 1, (VOI)-

An Iraqi security spokesman on Friday said the casualty toll of two pet markets bombings in Baghdad rose to 230.

The attacks were the deadliest in the Iraqi capital since 30,000 more American troops flooded into the centre of the country last spring.

“The toll of the two bombing that targeted al-Ghazal pet market and Baghdad al-Jadida pet market rose to 54 deaths and 176 injuries”, Qassem al-Musawi, the spokesman for Baghdad’s security plan told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI). Al-Musawi noted “the two bombings were the result of a suicide attack by two female suicide bombers”.

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2 U.S. soldiers killed in Tikrit, Baghdad  

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq

Friday , 01 /02 /2008  Time 7:46:31

Baghdad, Feb 1, (VOI) –

Two U.S. soldiers were killed and another wounded in Tikrit and Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S. army said in a statement on Friday.

"One U.S. soldier was killed by indirect fire in an attack on his convoy in Tikrit, the capital of Salah al-Din province, on Thursday," according to the U.S. army statement received by Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"Another U.S. soldier was wounded and evacuated," the statement added. In a separate statement during a late hour of Thursday night, the U.S. army said another soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Baghdad. "The soldier was killed when the IED went off near his patrol during combat operations on Thursday," the statement read. AE

Two civilians killed by gunmen in Kut  

Wassit - Voices of Iraq

Friday , 01 /02 /2008  Time 7:46:31

Kut, Feb 1, (VOI)-

Two civilians were gunned down on Friday by unknown armed men in the city of Kut, southeastern Iraq, an official security source said. “Unidentified gunmen opened fire at two civilians at a bus station in Kut, killing them instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI) on the condition of anonymity.

“The gunmen were masked and fled to unknown place after the attack,” he also said. Kut, the capital of Wassit, is 180 km southwest of Baghdad.

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'Brutal' Bombings: Mentally Disabled Attackers Reportedly Used in Market Blasts That Kill 91
By STEVEN R. HURST
Associated Press Writer

Feb 1, 2008, 9:55 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) --

Two women described as mentally disabled and strapped with remote-control explosives - and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers - brought carnage Friday to two pet bazaars, killing at least 91 people in the deadliest day since Washington flooded the capital with extra troops last spring.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Iraq's chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said the women had Down syndrome and may not have known they were on suicide missions, but gave no further details on how authorities pieced together the evidence. He also said the bombs were detonated by remote control.

The coordinated blasts - coming 20 minutes apart in different parts of the city - appeared to reinforce U.S. claims al-Qaida in Iraq may be increasingly desperate and running short of able-bodied men willing or available for such missions.

The twin attacks at the pet markets, however, could mark a disturbing use of unknowing agents of death.

Iraqi officials raised the death toll to 91 from 73 in the early hours of Saturday, but they were unable to immediately provide a casualty break down in the two bombings. The police and Interior Ministry officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Earlier, officials had said the first bomber was detonated about 10:20 a.m. in the central al-Ghazal market. Four police and hospital officials said at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded.

Police said the woman wearing the bomb sold cream in the mornings at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady."

The pet bazaar has been bombed repeatedly, but with violence declining in the capital, the market had regained popularity as a shopping district and place to stroll on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer.

But on Friday, it was returned to a scene straight out of the worst days of the conflict. Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.

A pigeon vendor said the market had been unusually crowded, with people taking advantage of a pleasantly crisp and clear winter day after a particularly harsh January.

"I have been going to the pet market with my friend every Friday, selling and buying pigeons," said Ali Ahmed, who was hit by shrapnel in his legs and chest. "It was nice weather today and the market was so crowded."

He said he was worried about his friend, Zaki, who disappeared after the blast about 40 yards away.

"I just remember the horrible scene of the bodies of dead and wounded people mixed with the blood of animals and birds, then I found myself lying in a hospital bed," Ali said.

About 20 minutes after the first attack, the second female suicide bomber was blown apart in a bird market in southeastern Baghdad. Initial reports had said as many as 27 people died and 67 were wounded, police and hospital officials said.

Rae Muhsin, the 21-year-old owner of a cell phone store, said he was walking toward the New Baghdad bird market when the explosion shattered the windows of nearby stores.

"I ran toward the bird market and saw charred pieces of flesh, small spots of blood and several damaged cars," Muhsin said. "I thought that we had achieved real security in Baghdad, but it turned that we were wrong."

The bombings were the latest in a series that has frayed Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.

Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a U.S. military spokesman, gave far lower casualty figures - seven killed and 23 wounded in the first bombing, and 20 killed and 30 wounded in the second.

Women in Iraq often wear abayas, the black Islamic robe, and avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because men are not allowed to touch them and there are too few female police.

Even the use of the handicapped in suicide bombings is not unprecedented in Iraq. In January 2005, Iraq's interior minister said insurgents used a disabled child in a suicide attack on election day. Police at the scene of the bombing said the child appeared to have Down syndrome.

Many teenage boys were among the casualties in the al-Ghazl bombing Friday, according to the officials who gave the death toll. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

In Late November, a bomb hidden in a box of small birds exploded at the al-Ghazl market, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. The U.S. military blamed the November attack on Iranian-backed Shiite militants, saying they had hoped al-Qaida in Iraq would be held responsible for the attack so Iraqis would turn to them for protection.

The U.S. military has been unable to stop the suicide bombings despite a steep drop in violence in the past six months. Friday's blasts were the deadliest in the capital since an April 18 suicide car bombing that killed 116 and wounded 145. Washington's "surge" of an additional 30,000 soldiers into Baghdad and other parts of central Iraq began in February, but did not reach full strength until June.

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Associated Press writers Hamid Ahmed and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.