Hellish scenes as six bomb blasts rip through Baghdad leaving at least 95 dead and 536 wounded

A series of blasts in Baghdad killed 95 and wounded 536 yesterday.


In Iraq's bloodiest day this year, home forces accepted blame for the security breach after U.S. troops withdrew from urban centres in June.


At least six blasts struck near government ministries and other targets at the heart of Iraq's Shi'ite-led administration.

Analysts said the co-ordinated attacks were a message 'to show the world the insurgents are still there'.


Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, Baghdad's security spokesman, told Iraqi TV: 'This operation shows negligence, and is considered a security breach for which Iraqi forces must take most of the blame.'


The Iraqi government said this month that most of the city's blast walls would be removed within 40 days, a sign of confidence in its security forces before elections in January.

The blasts were a rare example of a co-ordinated attack on heavily guarded targets.


One blast, a massive truck bomb close to a security checkpoint leading to the heavily-fortified Green Zone, blew out the windows of the foreign ministry, sending shards of glass through offices, killing dozens.


'The windows of the foreign ministry shattered, slaughtering the people inside.


'I could see ministry workers, journalists and security guards among the dead,' said a distraught ministry employee known as Asia.

'Suddenly a powerful blast shook the building and glass flew ... Most employees were wounded by the flying glass and others, including myself, suffered concussion ... I awoke with blood all over my face,' said ministry worker Batoul al-Amri.

Another truck bomb in Baghdad's Waziriya district near the finance ministry killed at least 28 and caused widespread destruction.


The Baghdad provincial government building also came under mortar attack, as did the Salhiya district in central Baghdad, home to army bases and a television station police said.

Another explosion was close enough to Reuters' offices in central Baghdad's Karrada district to burst open windows and doors.


In south Baghdad's Bayaa district, a blast killed two people and wounded five. It was not yet immediately clear where the other deaths among the 25 people killed occurred.

The attacks could undermine confidence in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki before the parliamentary election.

In a statement, Mr Maliki called for a review of security plans, but added the attacks were aimed at 'raising doubts about our armed forces, which have proven themselves very capable of confronting terrorists'.

However, analysts and members of the public disagreed.


'They are meant to convey a message to Iraqis and the world that insurgents are still there and can block the political process,' said analyst Hameed Fadhel of Baghdad University.

'Today's attacks reveal a major deficiency and weakness of the security forces.

'They were organised and huge,' he added. No group has claimed responsibility for the onslaught, but Mr Moussawi said two members of Al Qaeda were arrested when another bomb was intercepted.
Iraqi television later showed a truck loaded with water tankers stuffed with explosives that had been disarmed.


It was unclear if it was the same vehicle as in the arrest.


Sunni Islamist groups like Al Qaeda have been blamed for a series of blasts in the last two months at mostly Shi'ite venues such as mosques in both the capital and the north of Iraq.
DailyMail