Blast in Shiite Area of Baghdad Kills 26

01/25/2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide car bomber struck a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in central Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 26 people and wounding 54, police said. The blast occurred shortly after two rockets slammed into the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Two hours later a second huge explosion rocked the area. Police said they had blown up a second car bomb that had been disabled before its second suicide bomber could detonate the vehicle.

A massive plume of black smoke rose into the air on the east bank of the Tigris River and heavy gunfire rang out across the city center in the aftermath.

The suicide bomber struck in the central neighborhood of Karradah, the second bombing to strike the area in three days. At least three policemen were among the dead.

Angry Shiite residents took to the streets chanting "We want the Sunnis out!" There is a small Christian and Sunni population in that section of the city.

Most of the bomb attacks in the sectarian warfare that has consumed the capital and central Iraq for the past year are believed to be the work of Sunni insurgents attacking Shiites.

The blast shattered windows in surrounding apartment buildings and devastated several vehicles as sirens from emergency vehicles wailed.

It struck shortly after the explosions in the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. and British embassies and Iraqi government offices, the public address system inside the massive compound could be heard warning in English that people should take cover, "this is not a drill."

The U.S. military said initial reports indicated that at least two rockets struck the Green Zone, but it said it could not give more details.

Karradah has been the site of several past bombings, including one on Tuesday that killed four people and wounded seven.

Ambulances raced from the scene, at least one with the back door still open and bodies stacked in the back, according to AP Television News footage. Smoke rose above the date palm trees lining the streets.

The explosion destroyed three minivans, 11 cars and dozens of shops as well as the neighborhood's post office, according to a resident.