Car Bombs Kill at Least 15 in Baghdad
Violence has dropped dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007 and the U.S. withdrawal
Mohammed Tawfeeq CNN
July 31, 2012
BAGHDAD (CNN) -- At least 15 people died Tuesday when two car bombs exploded in central Baghdad, police in the Iraqi capital said.One of the blasts occurred near the emergency police department headquarters in al-Andalus square, and officers were among the casualties. At least 47 people were wounded, police said. Another occurred minutes later outside an Iraqi passport office two kilometers, or just over a mile, away.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility or further details about the incident, which occurred in the Karrada neighborhood, a predominantly Shiite district and busy shopping area.
After the bombings, three people authorities described as suicide bombers went into a building near the police department that houses a federal security unit, the major crimes directorate. Security forces shot and killed one of the people and searched for the other two in the building.
Police say they believe the three were planning to break into a detention center and free people affiliated with the al Qaeda in Iraq militant group.
In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen barged into the house of a TV journalist, killing him and wounding family members, police said.
He was identified as Ghazwan Anas, 29, a presenter for Sama al-Mosul Satellite Television. The incident occurred as the family dined after ending their Ramadan fast. No immediate motive was known, and police are investigating.
At least 103 people were killed on July 23 in coordinated attacks across the country, the deadliest day in Iraq this year.
Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq since the peak of Sunni-Shiite clashes in 2006 and 2007 and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country in December.
But insurgent attacks against civilians and security forces persist in the country, still smoldering with sectarian tension and political infighting.