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31 die in Baghdad blasts

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber struck on Monday in a crowd that had gathered where an explosion moments earlier damaged a bus full of schoolgirls, with both blasts killing at least 31 people and wounding 71 others, said officials.

Also Monday, a woman suicide bomber believed to be in her teens attacked a security checkpoint in downtown Baqouba, killing five people, including a local leader of Sunni group opposed to Al-Qaeda, said the police. Fifteen other people were wounded in that explosion.

The twin Baghdad blasts — the deadliest in months — occurred moments apart during the morning rush hour in the mostly Shia Kasrah section of Azamiyah district.

The police said the first explosion damaged a minibus carrying girls to school. The second happened when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt in the middle of a crowd that had gathered around the vehicle.

Officials were unclear how many died in each blast. The Interior Ministry gave the casualty figure of 31 dead and 71 wounded.

An Interior Ministry official speculated that extremists may have sought to “send a message” to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama about “the real situation in Iraq,” pressure the government not to sign a new security agreement with the U.S. or embarrass the ruling parties ahead of regional elections in January.

AP Television News video showed the minibus pocked with shrapnel marks with the floor soaked in blood. Girls’ shoes were scattered about amid the wreckage.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts. — AP

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