Quinn
04-15-2007, 08:02 PM
Another bridge targeted:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A string of car bombs and suicide attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens in what has been a bloody weekend for the war-ravaged nation.
Reports of the attacks came as the British Ministry of Defense announced that two British military helicopters apparently collided and crashed Sunday in a rural area on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, killing two British soldiers and seriously injuring a third.
Initial reports suggest that the crash was an accident and enemy fire was not involved, Defense Secretary Des Browne said.
The choppers went down near Taji, a town 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Also Sunday morning, two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other in a shopping and dining area of southwest Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding another 52 people, according to Baghdad police.
The first bomb hit a popular restaurant at about 10 a.m., while a second one exploded 10 minutes later and 100 yards away in an outdoor market in al-Shurta al-Rabeia district, police said.
Later, in northwestern Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest on a small bus, killing six people and wounding 11, Baghdad police said. The bus was traveling between the predominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Autaifiya and Kadhimiya.
In central Baghdad's Karrada district, a minibus packed with explosives blew up on a commercial road, killing 11 people and wounding 15 others, a Baghdad police official said.
In the northern city of Mosul, four people were killed and 16 others were wounded Sunday when two suicide car bombs exploded in quick succession at an Iraqi army base, police said.
Two Iraqi soldiers were among the dead, a police official said.
On Saturday, Baghdad police also reported finding 14 bullet-riddled bodies around the Iraqi capital.
Also Saturday, a car bomb blast in a crowded shopping area of central Karbala, a holy Shiite city about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad, killed at least 44 people and wounded 224, according to an official with the Karbala health directorate.
Ten women and 10 children were among those killed by the blast near a bus station and just 200 yards from the Imam Hussein shrine, where the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed is buried.
"All I remember was we were shopping. My father was holding my hand and suddenly there was a big explosion. I don't know where my father is. I want my father," 11-year-old Sajad Kadhim told The Associated Press as he was treated for his burns.
A short time later, a car bomb exploded on the Jadriya bridge, which spans the Tigris River in southern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 15 others, Iraqi police said.
That bridge attack came two days after a suicide car bomb detonated on the Sarafiya bridge, which crosses the Tigris in northern Baghdad, also killing 10 people. Two large sections of the bridge collapsed into the river.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A string of car bombs and suicide attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed and wounded dozens in what has been a bloody weekend for the war-ravaged nation.
Reports of the attacks came as the British Ministry of Defense announced that two British military helicopters apparently collided and crashed Sunday in a rural area on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, killing two British soldiers and seriously injuring a third.
Initial reports suggest that the crash was an accident and enemy fire was not involved, Defense Secretary Des Browne said.
The choppers went down near Taji, a town 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Also Sunday morning, two car bombs exploded within minutes of each other in a shopping and dining area of southwest Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding another 52 people, according to Baghdad police.
The first bomb hit a popular restaurant at about 10 a.m., while a second one exploded 10 minutes later and 100 yards away in an outdoor market in al-Shurta al-Rabeia district, police said.
Later, in northwestern Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest on a small bus, killing six people and wounding 11, Baghdad police said. The bus was traveling between the predominantly Shiite neighborhoods of Autaifiya and Kadhimiya.
In central Baghdad's Karrada district, a minibus packed with explosives blew up on a commercial road, killing 11 people and wounding 15 others, a Baghdad police official said.
In the northern city of Mosul, four people were killed and 16 others were wounded Sunday when two suicide car bombs exploded in quick succession at an Iraqi army base, police said.
Two Iraqi soldiers were among the dead, a police official said.
On Saturday, Baghdad police also reported finding 14 bullet-riddled bodies around the Iraqi capital.
Also Saturday, a car bomb blast in a crowded shopping area of central Karbala, a holy Shiite city about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad, killed at least 44 people and wounded 224, according to an official with the Karbala health directorate.
Ten women and 10 children were among those killed by the blast near a bus station and just 200 yards from the Imam Hussein shrine, where the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed is buried.
"All I remember was we were shopping. My father was holding my hand and suddenly there was a big explosion. I don't know where my father is. I want my father," 11-year-old Sajad Kadhim told The Associated Press as he was treated for his burns.
A short time later, a car bomb exploded on the Jadriya bridge, which spans the Tigris River in southern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 15 others, Iraqi police said.
That bridge attack came two days after a suicide car bomb detonated on the Sarafiya bridge, which crosses the Tigris in northern Baghdad, also killing 10 people. Two large sections of the bridge collapsed into the river.