Coordinated Bombings Kill Dozens in Iraq

STEVEN INSKEEP, host:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.

The bombings we're about to describe amount to the worst attack in Baghdad in weeks. Sixty-eight people were killed. This attack began when a bomb exploded in a street, and then as people rushed to help the injured a suicide bomber struck.

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston has visited the scene of the bombing and what did you learn?

DINA TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, you know, we talked to eyewitnesses this morning. And they said last night Al-Atar street in Karradah where all this took place was super crowded. I mean, the sidewalks were packed with young people. And last night, actually, was a very nice night here in Baghdad. And then all of a sudden these bombings happened.

Jiwad Zaki(ph) has a woman's clothing shop in the area. We talked to him this morning and he saw the whole thing.

Mr. JIWAD ZAKI (Saw Baghdad bombings): (Through translator) I was in my shop when an explosion happened around 7:00 p.m. I went to evacuate the wounded. I carried women and young girls. And then the second explosion took place.

INSKEEP: And what did things look like then when you arrived?

TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, we arrived this morning and the street was closed to vehicle traffic and there was security everywhere. When we got there, everyone seemed to be very busy cleaning up. Shopkeepers were sweeping up glass. Women in burqas were looking for bits of remains to bury. There was blood on the sidewalk that had not yet been hosed away. Windows - it must've been an enormous blast, because windows on both sides of the street were blown out.

And where we parked the car, the attendants at that lot said some of the cars hadn't been picked up from the night before. So they assumed at least some of the owners of those cars had died in the attack.

The street where all this happened is a very popular area in Karradah. It's lined with shops and cafes and juice bars. And this is a place Iraqis go to buy Western clothes and European cosmetics. A lot of the girls who are walking around this neighborhood are wearing jeans and western clothes.

And what's so interesting about this place is that it's seen by Iraqis as a really good barometer of what's going on in Baghdad generally. When it's calm there, there's a sense that Baghdad is calm. And when things like this happen there it rattles Iraqis, because it seems like a harbinger of things to come. When these bombings occur in civilian areas like this it really terrorizes the people.

INSKEEP: And has anybody claimed responsibility for this attack in this upscale neighborhood?

TEMPLE-RASTON: There really hasn't been any immediate claim of responsibility. But this kind of attack - these back-to-back bombings designed to maximize killings - these were a tactic al-Qaida in Iraq used during the worst violence in Baghdad in 2006. Basically, the strategy is to draw people in with the first blast, particularly police and rescue workers, and then to detonate a second bomb to maximize the number of people killed. And that's what happened last night.

INSKEEP: So if people look at this particular neighborhood and the security of this neighborhood as a sign of what's happening in Baghdad generally, does that suggest that after the improvements of recent months things are going to get worse in Baghdad again?

TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, that's what they're worried about. This is actually the worst bombing in Baghdad since the pet market bombing at the beginning of February. You might remember there were two suicide bombers who went into two popular pet markets in Baghdad and in a coordinated effort detonated their vests. Well, that bombing killed about 100 people. And so far the death toll here is 68, but Iraqi officials told us that they think that number is going to go up.

The thing is, over the last six months violence in Baghdad has really dropped, between the boost in U.S. troops related to the surge, a cease-fire by Shiite militia that follow Muqtada al-Sadr, and this general turn against al-Qaida in Iraq by Sunnis here, this kind of large scale violence had really fallen off. And now the real concern is that the trend might be reversing itself.

INSKEEP: Did you see U.S. troops on the streets?

TEMPLE-RASTON: This morning we did, but very few. It was mostly Iraqi police and Iraqi security and there were a couple of humvees on either end of the street just to block traffic from coming in. we ended up having to go a back way and sort of sneak into the street. But there wasn't a lot there. No.

I think what was really interesting, too, is that when we talked to the people there on the street they were very, very angry about the security situation and how the police had not been able to stop this. This particular shopping area has a checkpoint on either side and cars are searched. And it's done in such a cursory way, clearly somebody was able to get in with explosives and really do a lot of damage.

INSKEEP: NPR's Dina Temple-Raston is in Baghdad.

Thanks very much.

TEMPLE-RASTON: You're welcome.

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