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At least 38 people were killed in two massive bomb attacks in Iraq Thursday, 20 of them dying at the hands of a suicide bomber as they held an anti-Qaida meet, officials said.
A car bomb also ripped through northern Iraq's restive city of Mosul, killing 18 people, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.
The suicide bomber blew himself up in a municipal office in western Iraq's Anbar province, killing the local mayor and at least 19 senior members of an anti-Qaida front, according to Iraqi officials.
The attack which the U.S. military said appeared to be carried out by al-Qaida occurred in the town of Garma, near the former Sunni rebel bastion of Fallujah, the Fallujah town council spokesman Kamal al-Ayash said.
Ayash said the bomber detonated his explosive vest in the office of mayor Kamal al-Abdali as he was huddled in a meeting with members of an anti-Qaida "Awakening" group around noon.
"Abdali was one of those killed in the attack," Ayash said.
A security official in the defense ministry confirmed that at least 20 people were killed and 20 more were wounded in the attack.
U.S. military Sergeant Brooke Murphy said the attack also resulted in U.S. casualties but did not offer details, adding it "bears the hallmarks of having been carried out by al-Qaida in Iraq."
The bombing marked the second attack on a municipal office in Iraq this week.
On Tuesday, the office of the district advisory council of Baghdad's Shiite enclave of Sadr City was bombed in an attack which killed four Americans -- two soldiers and two civilian employees.
The violence in Garma came just days before Anbar province, once a hotbed of Sunni militancy, is due to be transferred by the U.S. military to the control of Iraqi security forces.
The U.S. military said the transfer of would continue as per plan despite the attack.
The country's largest province was the epicenter of a brutal Sunni Arab-led fight against the U.S. military after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
In the early years of the insurgency, U.S. forces fought raging battles in the province, especially in the capital Ramadi and in Fallujah.
Fallujah became a symbol of the ultra-violent insurgency before it was virtually razed to the ground in November 2004 by a U.S. military assault launched to seize control of the city.
The violence Anbar began to ebb in late 2006 when local Sunni tribes, weary of al-Qaida's extremism and brutal methods, switched allegiance and formed a common front to chase them out.
The front became known as Sahwa or "Awakening". Most of its members are former Sunni Arab insurgents who fought U.S. forces after the fall of Saddam.
But since they sided with the U.S. troops in late 2006, violence has fallen dramatically in Anbar, making the province a symbol of stability in Iraq.
In the day's second brutal attack, a car bomb in Mosul killed 18 people and wounded 80 others, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.
The U.S. military said initial reports indicated that 17 Iraqi civilians and a policeman were killed, while 71 civilians and nine policemen were wounded in the car bomb attack.
© Wire reports
28 Comments
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Taka313
So much for the 'condi visiting Japan is a sign of success in Iraq' delusion.
But hey, it was good (and amusing) while it lasted.
Taka
rjd_jr
I will abstain from any sort of negative comments so we don't have to hear those 'oh the anti war crazies' are happy to hear this malarkey. But let's just say that it sure does seem like these incidents are increasing, don't it?
Sorry, your tour has been extended!
medievaltimes
Oh, the anti war crazies are happy to hear this malarkey.
RedMeatKoolAid
Enough of the armchair chickenhawk blather. Any 'liberal - progressive' still tweet-tweeting at the US for what Al Qaeda gets up to in Iraq needs to head over there and pick up a rifle. I know, I know; the hard part is you're not sure which side to defend - free Iraq or 'the insurgency'.
SezWho2
There are far more than two sides in this war. Our pretense that it is as simple as a "free Iraq" or "the insurgency" is a part of the problem.
smithinjapan
"Enough of the armchair chickenhawk blather. Any 'liberal - progressive' still tweet-tweeting at the US for what Al Qaeda gets up to in Iraq needs to head over there and pick up a rifle. I know, I know; the hard part is you're not sure which side to defend - free Iraq or 'the insurgency'."
Speak for yourself, REDMEAT (and tell sarge, RR, and all the other people who actually believe this war is worthwhile.... seems to make a whole lot of sense that you have armchair 'warriors' who cheer on the fighting to actually go over and join it, as opposed to people against it, don't you think?). You're syllogistic suggestion doesn't even make sense.
You are against the war... Therefore you should go over there and pick up a gun...
Ummm... yeah, makes a whole lot of sense, Koolaid. Lay off the hooch.
SushiSake3
RedMeat - "Enough of the armchair chickenhawk blather. Any 'liberal - progressive' still tweet-tweeting at the US for what Al Qaeda gets up to in Iraq needs to head over there and pick up a rifle."
Can we follow you? Oh, that's right - you will only defend this war from the comfort of your armchair.
Taka313
So...we have two choices: one is mythical and the other was in its last throes 4 years ago.
Right. I'll tell you what. I took my turn. Why don't YOU go. Please...don't forget to write.
Taka
Madverts
Wow - what happened to all the invasion supporters that were swaggering around saying violence was down and that anybody saying otherwise felt threatened by good news from Iraq?
And already another judge involved in a snuffing....
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/27/iraq.assassination/index.html
Methinks Bush Co better stop that July surge withdrawl, or it was all for nuttin'.
Sarge
"it sure does seem like these incidents are increasing, doesn't it?"
The fact is, these incidents are decreasing.
"Wow, what happened to all the invasion supporters that ( who ) were swaggering around"
We liberation supporters don't swagger.
"Methinks Bush Co better stop that July surge ( withdrawal )"
Heh, they'll take that under advisement.
Madverts
Sarge,
"We liberation supporters don't swagger."
Sorry, stumble ;)
Sarge
Madverts,
Sorry, we don't stumble either.
Madverts
Flounder?
Madverts
A serious question, though, Sarge - do you support the withrawls of surge troops bush is proposing?
Sarge
Madverts,
Sorry, we don't flounder either. Keep trying.
"Do you support the ( withdrawals ) of surge troops ( Bush ) is supporting?"
General Petraeus recommends it. General Petraeus pretty much knows what's happening on the ground, so yeah, I support it.
SezWho2
Sarge,
I don't think our troops stumble, flounder or whatever word might suggest a certain degree of ineptness. However, I think it's quite fair to say that our administration does.
Taka313
Sez, And that's on their good days. ;-)
Taka
Madverts
Sez,
"However, I think it's quite fair to say that our administration does."
That is whom is was referring to. And the ever-dwindling support base.
Madverts
Sarge,
The US has been floundering in Iraq since it attempted to install a new regime.
SezWho2
Taka313,
That makes it awfully hard to pray for more good days.
SezWho2
Madverts,
I knew that.
But in America, whenever the troops are involved, we have to be so, so careful not to even appear to disrespect them in any way, shape or form. Too many people have the administration and the troops conjoined at the waist and then identify this Siamese anomaly as America.
jambon
As usual, one has to read from the end of the article, backwards, for it to make any sense.
I'm starting to wonder if these news reports are from the pre-surge period. My sources in Iraq are enjoying ice cream. Lots of it.
Raja Kumar
Troops should return home,enjoy good life as americans. No one can touch or challenge USA in arms/military industrial complexes. Why fight other, people's wars of arab world/middle east. Just leave like in vietnam wars of 1970s. Vietnam doing well now in 2000s,30 years later.
Sarge
Madverts - "The US has been floundering in Iraq since it attempted to install a new regime"
I guess you missed the elections that even the U.N. said were free and fair. Heh, do you think we would have installed an Shiite Islamic regime?
Sez/Taka313 - Yeah, well, with the current "floundering" administration, the overall situation in Iraq continues to get better, doesn't it?
Taka313
Sez,
I think most people just pray for fewer days. There's a reason these guys are making good dough: http://www.backwardsbush.com/
Taka
SezWho2
Sarge,
Yes, the overall situation in Iraq continues to get better. Tell me when it gets up to "acceptable".
Madverts
According to quite a few invasion supporters on this site, 532 dead in a month is something to veel vindicated about.
Sarge
Taka313 - Reduced to backwardsbush.com? Pathetic indeed.
Madverts - "According to quite a few invasion supporters on this site, 532 dead in a month is something to ( feel ) vindicated about."
According to quite a few liberation protesters, it would have been better to allow Saddam Hussein, who caused misery and deaths for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, to continue to run Iraq into the ground from his many luxurious palaces.