Blast in Baghdad Rebel District Kills at Least 47 39 minutes ago By Mariam Karouny and Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A huge car bomb blast tore through a crowded market close to a Baghdad police headquarters building Tuesday, killing at least 47 people in the deadliest single attack in the Iraqi capital in six months.
An Internet statement in the name of the Tawhid and Jihad group led by Jordanian al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the blast, which it said was carried out by a suicide attacker. Washington says Zarqawi is its top enemy in Iraq (news - web sites) and has put a $25 million price on his head.
"With the grace of God, a lion from our martyrdom brigades was successful in striking a center for apostate police volunteers," said the statement, which could not be verified.
The Health Ministry said 47 people were killed and 114 wounded. The Interior Ministry said at least one car bomb was used in the attack in Haifa street, a flashpoint area notorious as a stronghold of criminals and guerrillas.
In a separate incident in the restive town of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, gunmen opened fire on a police minibus. The town's police chief said 12 people were killed. Zarqawi's group also claimed responsibility for that attack.
Guerrillas also blew up oil pipelines in northern Iraq, cutting northern oil exports and forcing a nearby power station to be shut down. The attack meant large areas of Iraq were without electricity from 3 a.m. onward.
"ALL I SAW WAS BLOOD"
The Baghdad blast caused carnage in the crowded market and streets near the police headquarters building.
"I was standing there talking to my friend when suddenly all I saw was blood, and my friend lying dead," said an Iraqi man who gave his name as Zafer, speaking from his hospital bed with blood and scratches on his face and bandages on his stomach.
Hospital workers hosed pools of blood from the floor.
At the blast site, rescuers pulled bodies from mangled market stalls. The area was littered with shoes, clothes and body parts, as well as fruit and vegetables from the market.
Bloodstained corpses lay on pavements strewn with chairs, glass and rubble from blown-out shopfronts. Dazed bystanders vainly checked bodies for signs of life.
Smoke from blazing vehicles in the middle of the street billowed into the sky as fire crews tried to douse the flames. A huge crater was punched into the road. Ambulances with sirens wailing ferried the dead and wounded to hospital as U.S. helicopters buzzed overhead.
Sunday, guerrillas mounted multiple car bomb and mortar attacks in central Baghdad, during a day of violence in which more than 100 people were killed across the country.
Many of Sunday's casualties were also in Haifa Street, where U.S. troops have repeatedly clashed with guerrillas.
Following Tuesday's bombing, U.S. troops again moved into Haifa Street and appeared to be readying for an assault. They told residents by loudspeaker to leave the area.
Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib visited the site to condemn the perpetrators.
"They are targeting the Iraqi people and they are trying to destroy Iraq. These powers won't stop the rebuilding of Iraq," he said. "There will be no space for the terrorists and the enemies of Iraq."
SURGE IN VIOLENCE
Near Mosul, gunmen opened fire on a U.S. patrol Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding five, the U.S. military said.
Since the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) last year, at least 762 U.S. troops have been killed in action. The total Pentagon (news - web sites) death toll, including non-hostile deaths, is 1,013.
Fighting has surged in Iraq over the last few days after U.S.-led forces launched a drive to pacify areas of the country under guerrilla control ahead of elections due in January.
The American military has mounted several air strikes on Falluja, a city controlled by insurgents. It says the attacks have targeted militants loyal to Zarqawi, who they say are based in the city.
U.S. forces have also launched an offensive in Tal Afar, a mainly Turkmen town close to the Syrian border in northern Iraq which it says has become a haven for foreign fighters.
The Health Ministry has said at least 60 people were killed in fighting in Tal Afar over the past week.