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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Militants bomb Baghdad, kill 25, injure 100
AGAIN, an orgy of violence yesterday swept across Iraq as militants, suspected to belong to Tawhid and Jihad groups, bombed central Baghdad killing about 25 people and injuring 100 others.
The explosions, which were described as one of the most intense mortar barrages ever targeted at the Green Zone, destroyed a United States (U.S.) vehicle along a major street.
However, reports said some of the victims were killed when a U.S. helicopter fired at crowds around the burning vehicle.
Elsewhere, a suicide attacker detonated an explosives-packed vehicle at the gates of Abu Ghraib prison, killing himself but causing no other casualties, the U.S. military said.
Also, the U.S. guards fired at the vehicle before the driver could reach the gate.
Tawhid and Jihad, a militant group linked to al-Qaeda and led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said it carried out yesterday's co-ordinated campaign of violence in Baghdad - the Abu Ghraib bombing, the mortar barrage and attacks on central Haifa Street.
In a Web statement, the group boasted that it holds the initiative in the Iraqi insurgency and possesses the "capability to surprise the enemy and hit its strategic installations at the right time and place."
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged that the U.S.-led coalition faces a "difficult time" in Iraq but said the U.S. has a plan to quash the insurgency raging in several Iraqi cities and bring those areas under control in time for national elections in January.
The insurgency "will be brought under control," Powell said on NBC's "Meet The Press. It's not an impossible task."
Rockets and mortars began raining down before dawn on the Green Zone, which houses Iraqi and U.S. offices, and other parts of central Baghdad. As the shelling continued after sunrise, U.S. troops backed by armoured vehicles moved into the streets searching for the attackers.
A Bradley fighting vehicle rushing down Haifa Street to assist a U.S. patrol was disabled by a car bomb about 6.50 a.m. The four U.S. crewmen escaped with minor injuries but came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire and called for air support.
Jubilant fighters and young boys swarmed around the burning vehicle, dancing, cheering and hurling firebombs. Several young men placed a black banner of Tawhid and Jihad in the barrel of the Bradley's main gun.
Suddenly, a U.S. Kiowa helicopter fired on the Bradley, trying to destroy it to prevent insurgents from looting weapons and ammunition on board.
Witnesses said several people milling around the Bradley, including a correspondent for the Arabic language Al-Arabiya television station, were killed. An Iraqi cameraman working for the Reuters News Agency and a freelance photographer for Getty Images were also wounded.
Al-Arabiya broadcast videotape showing its employee, Mazen al-Tumeizi, preparing to make a report. Suddenly, an explosion occurred behind him. He doubled-over and began screaming "I'm dying, I'm dying" and colleagues tried to help him.
Health Ministry official Saad al-Amili said 13 people were killed and 61 wounded on Haifa Street, though it was not clear how many were killed in the helicopter strike. Scattered shoes, pools of fresh blood and debris littered the street.
Also, another 12 people died and 41 injured yesterday in other violence across the city.
"We were standing near the destroyed vehicle when the helicopter started firing, so we rushed to safety in a nearby building," Alaa Hassan, 24, said from his hospital bed. "I went back to the scene to help the wounded people when the helicopter fired again and I was hit in the chest."
The Tawhid and Jihad claim of responsibility for Sunday's bombing came in a posting on its Web site. Al-Zarqawi, one of the most wanted militants in Iraq, is believed to be behind a number of suicide bombings in Iraq over the past year.
On June 24, his group claimed responsibility for a surprise offensive of bombing and shooting attacks in four northern cities that day that killed more than 100 people. Tawhid and Jihad - Arabic for "monotheism and holy war" - has also beheaded several foreign hostages in Iraq in recent months.
An audio-tape purportedly by key terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi boasts that Islamic holy warriors have humiliated the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.
The speaker noted recent battles between U.S. forces and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric in the holy city of Najaf, indicating that it had been made recently.
There was no way to verify the authenticity of the 45-minute recording or the date it was made. The audiotape surfaced Saturday, the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks, on a Web site known for Islamic content.
The voice on the tape was similar to that of previous recordings of al-Zarqawi and used a similar style of rhythmic speech. There was no reference to the September 11 attacks in the tape, titled: "Where is the honour?"
The tape opened with previously recorded material, including songs and speeches, before introducing the speaker as al-Zarqawi. The ensuing speech lasted about 25 minutes.
"The holy warriors made the international coalition taste humiliation ... lessons from which they still are burning," the speaker said.
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