40 killed in Baghdad violence

January 27, 2011 05:22 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 05:56 am IST - BAGHDAD

A car bomb on Thursday ripped through a funeral tent in a mainly Shia area of Baghdad, the deadliest in a series of attacks that killed at least 40 people.

The blasts were the latest in more than a week of bombings that have killed more than 200 people, raising concerns about an uptick in violence as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country.

The violence has mainly targeted the majority Shia community and Iraqi security forces, posing a major challenge to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his fragile coalition government that was seated last month.

Suspicion

The car that exploded about 2 pm on Thursday had been parked with the vehicles of other mourners, several metres away from the tent, so it wouldn't raise suspicion, said police.

Several other cars were set afire and the force of the blast damaged nearby houses.

At least 37 people, including four children and three women, were killed and 78 wounded, according to police and hospital officials.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.