Car bombs kill 48 in Baghdad?s Sadr City

BAGHDAD. April 30. KAZINFORM A wave of near-simultaneous bombs ripped through crowded Baghdad markets and a packed minibus yesterday, killing 48 people including women and children, and making April the deadliest month of the year in Iraq; Kazinform refers to the Arab News.

Three blasts occurred within minutes of each other in markets in the impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City and two other neighborhoods during afternoon rush hour when they were packed with mothers and schoolchildren. The blasts went off in quick succession less than a week after bombings claimed more than 150 lives over a two-day span. The attacks have raised fears that suspected Sunni insurgents are regrouping and trying to reignite sectarian strife as the US military begins to withdraw. There were conflicting death tolls yesterday, as is usual in the chaotic aftermath of bombings. Earlier, police and hospital officials said 41 people died and more than 60 people also were wounded. An Interior Ministry official gave a slightly higher figure, saying 45 people had died. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren?t allowed to release the information. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but car bombs and suicide attacks bear the hallmark of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgent groups. Angry young men gathered around the bloodstained pavement and twisted heaps of metal from the cars, which had been parked near a restaurant and an ice cream stand; Kazinform cites the Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version