

Wave of attacks in Iraq kills at least 43 people


The attacks in Hillah began with a roadside bombing near tents set up for Shiites commemorating the 17th-century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein. That was quickly followed by a car bomb targeting emergency response teams.


Twisted and charred vehicles were left outside damaged stores as shopkeepers collected their strewn merchandise from the bloodstained pavement. Hillah is 60 miles south of Baghdad, the capital.

Ali Hussein, 44, was walking near his house when he heard the two thunderous explosions near the commercial area about 200 yards from his house.

"I rushed to the blast site, and I saw burning cars and pieces of flesh everywhere," said Mr. Hussein, who owns a grocery store. "There were small blood pools all around the place," he added, blaming security forces, who "should do better in order to protect the innocent people."



Such religious ceremonies often have been targeted by Sunni insurgents seeking to foment sectarian violence and undermine the Shiite-led government.

A suicide bomber also drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the mainly Sunni city of Fallujah, 40 miles west of the capital, killing three policemen and wounding 11 others, a police official in the city said.

And in the northern city of Mosul, a parked-car bomb went off as a police patrol passed, killing two people and wounded two, police said. Another police patrol was hit by a roadside bomb in the town of Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding six others.

In other violence, a roadside bomb killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded five others in Taji, north of Baghdad, and a parked-car bomb struck a restaurant in Madain, southeast of the capital, killing a civilian and wounding 12 others, according to police.


The nationwide death toll was the highest since Oct. 27, when 40 people were killed in a string of bombings and other attacks around the country.




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