Twin blasts in Baghdad leave at least 130 dead (Roundup)

Oct 25, 2009, 14:40 GMT

Iraqis inspect the area neat the Justice Ministry building following a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq on 25 October 2009. At least 130 people were killed and 180 others were wounded when two car bombs driven by suicide attackers went off near the justice ministry and the Baghdad provincial council buildings in central Baghdad, a security source said. EPA/SHEHAB AHMED

Baghdad- Iraqi officials on Sunday announced a three-day national mourning period for victims of twin terror blasts that struck central Baghdad earlier in the day.

Early Sunday morning, two truck bombs exploded near the Iraqi Ministry of Justice and Baghdad's Municipal Council, killing at least 130 people and wounding at least 500, according to the Iraqi interior ministry.

Two suicide bombers were seen driving the trucks before detonating them, eyewitnesses told the German Press Agency dpa. The blasts were separated by only one minute.

Heavy smoke was seen rising from the vicinity of the buildings, tenants of which included the National Iraqi TV station and the al- Mansour hotel, eyewitnesses said.

The huge explosions left dozens of passersby dead in the streets, while other bodies were burnt inside cars that had been driving by at the time of the explosion. Parts of nearby buildings were badly damaged and collapsing, witnesses added.

Iraqi officials fingered the al-Qaeda network and remnants of the Baathist party for responsibility.

'The blasts that took place today hold the fingerprints of al- Qaeda and al-Baath. They are similar to the ones that took place in August,' Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

Iraqi interior minister Jihad al-Boulani agreed, saying that security forces are now hunting two fugitives who were involved in recent terrorist attacks.

'The preliminary report presented to me states that today's bombings are connected with the August blasts,' al-Boulani said.

Al-Boulani added that security forces are now trying to hunt down fugitives who were convicted in absentia in the August terror attacks. They are believed to have a role in Sunday's blasts.

On August 19, some 10 explosions rocked the Iraqi capital, leaving more than 100 dead and 1,200 injured. The blasts targeted the finance and foreign ministries, the sites of which were not far from Sunday's blasts.

Iraqi officials also blame Baathist party members for those attacks.

Meanwhile, the Cairo-based Arab League condemned the blasts. In a statement, the League said it 'vehemently condemns the blasts' and that it supports and 'Iraqi government plans to impose law and security and to fight violence and terrorism'

'We are not going to stand hand tied,' Sherwan al-Waely, the Iraqi security minister said. 'We are going to stand in the face of these crimes committed against the Iraqi people,' he said.

Meanwhile, military spokesman Qassem Atta told reporters that only parts of the detonated trucks were recovered and that investigations are underway to find out more details about the areas near the blasts.

'After the investigations, everyone responsible will be charged for the shortcomings,' Atta said.

Head of the rescue team, Abdel Rasoul al-Zaidi, said that his men were able to put out the fire in the buildings and that they are now looking for survivors or further bodies under the rubble.

'The two explosions were so huge and have left enormous damage,' al-Zaidi said.