Car bombs kill 10 in Iraqi capital Baghdad

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed 10 people in southern Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, as insurgents kept up the pressure despite a major U.S.-backed security crackdown aimed at stabilising the Iraqi capital.

The first car bomb exploded near a fuel station in the district of Saidiya, killing five people and wounding 11 more, police said. Another police source, however, said three were killed and 12 wounded in that attack.

Another car bomb exploded in Doura, in the south of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding seven at a vegetable market.

more: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L20423978.htm

Body count in Baghdad rises after lull
20 Feb 2007 06:33:41 GMT
BAGHDAD, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Twenty unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi police said on Tuesday, a spike in the daily death toll after a marked reduction since the start of a major security crackdown.

Most such bodies are victims of sectarian death squads and many are found tortured, bound and shot dead. The figure from the morgue does not include victims of bomb attacks or others who are taken to hospitals and identified there.

The U.S.-led offensive against militants had sharply reduced the number of death squad killings in Baghdad since the operation formally began a week ago.

Before the crackdown, police had been finding 40 to 50 bodies a day. On Sunday, they found just three bodies and in previous days around five each day.

more: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR022614.htm

Military says attacks in Baghdad have dropped
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-02-19-iraq-attacks_x.htm?csp=34

[Erika]

1. But Malachi said the surge was a dazzling success

and W's war goes on.

[ClintonTyree]

2. Last throes....

that sort of thing. They're on the run, this is their swan song. Peace is just around the corner. Be patient. You know, the same bullshit they've been saying for the past 3 years only THIS TIME they mean it! ;)

[Eugene]

3. Operation Law and Order worked all of 3 days.

EDIT: additional articles removed

PM Nouri al-Maliki announced how well the crackdown was going on Saturday
just before things started reverting to "normal."

[xchrom]

4. more of george and maliki's FABULOUS surge.

[pampango]

5. The "surge" will never work long term, but...

I did want to slip in a word to condemn the butchers that explode car bombs at gas stations and vegetable markets. (I'm never sure in these instances whether they are the "patriotic resistance to the occupation" who couldn't find any American troops to attack, so picked on some civilians, or "genocidal maniacs" intent on slaughtering the "hated" Shia ).

[Eugene]

6. Reuters: Suicide bomber kills 7 mourners in Baghdad attack

Suicide bomber kills 7 mourners in Baghdad attack
20 Feb 2007 14:10:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Updates toll, adds previous attacks)

BAGHDAD, Feb 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least seven people and
wounded 15 in an attack on mourners at a funeral tent in northeastern Baghdad
on Tuesday, police said.

The blast occurred in the mainly Shi'ite area of Palestine Street. U.S. and Iraqi
troops are conducting a major security crackdown aimed at stemming the relentless
bloodshed in Baghdad.

Earlier on Tuesday, two car bombs in southern Baghdad killed up to 10 people,
police said.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR050694.htm

Related: Car bombs, attacks kill 18 in Baghdad - AP

[cal04]

7. Chlorine truck blast kills five in Iraq

A bomb destroyed a truck carrying chlorine gas north of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least five people and spewing out toxic fumes that left nearly 140 others sick, Iraqi police said.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber and two car bombs killed at least 17 and police said 20 unidentified bodies were found on Monday, a spike in the daily death toll after a marked reduction since the start of a U.S.-backed security crackdown aimed at restoring order to the Iraqi capital.

It was not immediately clear if the chlorine truck blast was caused by a roadside bomb that hit the truck or if the vehicle itself was rigged with explosives as a makeshift chemical gas bomb.

One source at police headquarters said the truck was rigged with explosives, suggesting it was a "dirty bomb" employing a readily available substance used to purify water.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR030640.htm

[MGD]

8. A chemical weapon attack? Jesus Christ, what's next?