A series of bombs exploded this morning in Iraq, killing dozens and wounding over 200 victims on what has been deemed “the country’s deadliest day since January.”
The first bomb exploded in the capital around midnight and the next, a truck bomb, exploded in Khadamiya, where a group of Shiites had started to assemble to honor the great-grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. News of other attacks continued to arise and by noon more than 70 people were declared dead and at least 260 wounded.
The attack was targeted primarily at Shiite Muslims, due to tensions that surfaced after terrorism charges were made against the Sunni vice president, leading to a warrant for his arrest. Since then, there has been an “aggressive effort” to remove the Shiite prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, from office.
However, as one witness to the bombings points out, not just Shiites are at risk: “The explosion was large enough to tell us that the target is all Iraqis, not just Shiites, because I had two Sunni friends helping me serve the pilgrims,” said Ali al-Baydhani.
A Fox News article describes the gruesome sight of this tragedy: “Puddles of blood and shards of metal clogged a drainage ditch at the site of one of the bombings in the city of Hillah, where hours before pilgrims had been marching. Soldiers and dazed onlookers wandered near the charred remains of the car that had exploded and ripped gaping holes in nearby shops.”
As The New York Times explains, this attack serves as “a deadly reality check”; though Iraq has “made substantial steps to reclaim a sense of normalcy,” and though the violence has subsided since its height in 2006-2007, Iraqis still live in fear of daily attacks and political divides remain firmly rooted.
“The scale of the violence is disturbing. I urgently appeal to the government to address the root causes of the violence and terrorism that are causing so much suffering and pain to the Iraqi people,” said Martin Kobler, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative for Iraq.