Militant attacks rock Baghdad, Mosul (Roundup)

Mar 11, 2007, 15:27 GMT

An Iraqi soldier secures the area at the site of a car bomb blast in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday 11 March 2007. A parked car exploded next to a truck carrying Iraqi Shiite pilgrims, who were on their way back from Karbala after attending a religious festival, leaving a number of injured people including pilgrims. EPA/MOHAMMED JALIL

Baghdad - Dozens were killed in separate attacks across Iraq, only a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had claimed at a Baghdad conference that violence in his country was significantly reduced.

In one incident on Sunday, at least 20 civilians were killed and 25 wounded when a car bomb detonated in al-Karada district in central Baghdad, police sources said.

Initial police reports had placed the number of dead at 11, adding that only seven were wounded. However, the police described the attack as intense and the death toll was expected to rise in the hours following the attack.

According to the police, the civilians were mostly Shiite pilgrims who were on their way back from a festival, usually celebrated 40 days after the Ashura festival, which commemorates the death of Imam Hussein, a Shiite icon and grandson of the prophet Mohammed.

The car used in the attack was reportedly parked at the side of the road and was detonated using a remote control, the police said.

In a separate incident, at least 11 people were killed and 14 more wounded when another bomb detonated near al-Mustansiriyah college in Baghdad, which had been targeted by militants before.

Police reports said the explosion was caused by a suicide attacker, who detonated his explosive belt on a commuter bus as it passed the college.

Separately, four people were reportedly killed and two more wounded in Mosul when an explosion rocked the headquarters of the Iraqi Islamic Party, police sources said Sunday.

The Iraqi Islamic Party is a Sunni party, lead by Iraqi Vice President Tarek al-Hashimi, with its headquarters in southern Mosul, 450 kilometres north of Baghdad. The party is part of the Iraqi Accord Front, the Sunni coalition which has 44 seats in government.

Police sources did not say whether the blast was caused by a suicide attack.

However, the Voices of Iraq news agency quoted Mohammad Shaker al- Ghanam, an official from the party, as saying that an unidentified body found near the blast site might 'belong to a suicide bomber who carried out the attack.'

Al-Ghanam also said that the blast targeted the information office of the party headquarters.

Meanwhile, US-led coalition forces said they had captured a total of 15 terror suspects during Sunday morning raids targeting al-Qaeda hideouts in Iraq and foreign fighter facilitators. The raids included the Abu Gharib area and Fallujah.

In another development, a gunman was killed in al-Mansour district, western Baghdad, and around 77 suspected militants were rounded-up across the capital by Iraqi security forces during the last 24 hours, according to Voices of Iraq.