CNN Article: Bombs kill more than 200 in Baghdad's Sadr City

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The death toll from a brutal string of car bomb attacks in Baghdad's Sadr City has risen to more than 200 dead and more than 250 wounded, an Iraqi Health Ministry official said Friday after an updated count from local hospitals.

Thursday's bloodshed represented the single deadliest coordinated attack in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003.

Police reported three car bombings and a mortar attack over a 30-minute period. Later, Health Minister Ali Shummari said there were six car bombs and a missile fired.

The attacks were part of a frightening spasm of violence on Thursday that coursed through two bastions of support for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Attacks were coordinated northeast of Baghdad in Sadr City and at the Health Ministry compound, which is controlled by the cleric's political movement.

The situation was fluid and officials offered different numbers for those killed and wounded throughout the day.

The Health Ministry said officials plan to tour hospitals Friday afternoon to gain more detailed information on the number of casualties.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, speaking on state Iraqi TV, condemned the attack, offering his condolences to families, calling for national unity and urging calm.

But the incident -- which might have sparked retaliatory mortar fire in a Sunni section of northern Baghdad later in the day -- portends even more chaos in a country rife with violence.

It comes a day after a U.N. bimonthly report about Iraq that underscored the unbridled sectarian violence harming Iraq.

The report said that 3,709 civilians were killed in violence in Iraq in October -- the highest monthly toll since the war began. (Full story)

U.S. military commanders believe al-Sadr supporters, particularly the Mehdi Army militia, have carried out sectarian revenge attacks against Sunnis. Al-Sadr, who has denounced such attacks, is a fiery anti-American figure and is very popular among Shiites in Baghdad, in the Shiite south, and in Shiite enclaves in the Sunni Triangle.

Sectarian violence flared Monday through Wednesday, with more than 140 bodies found dumped across the capital -- signs of Shiite-Sunni fighting. But Thursday's violence was even more dramatic.

News footage showed the wreckage of cars, thick smoke rising over the neighborhood, and wounded people at hospitals.

"This is a bloody day," Shummari said.

The U.S. military said it believes six car bombs -- five initial blasts and a smaller blast later -- detonated.

There was an earlier report, from police, that one of the strikes was from a mortar round.

"As of right now, we have no reports of Iraqi Army or Coalition force casualties. There are no U.S. units in Sadr City," U.S. Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.

He said the 9th Iraqi Army and coalition advisers are on the scene. U.S. helicopters did fly overhead but did not engage any targets, and there has been no reported fighting involving coalition forces.

"There have been reports of residents randomly firing weapons after the (car bomb) detonations," said Garver, who noted that conditions had calmed down after the incident.

The Interior Ministry imposed a curfew for Baghdad starting at 8 p.m., an hour earlier than the start of the normal overnight curfew. It is unclear how long the curfew will extend.

Despite this, Shummari said the Health Ministry employees will continue to work to help manage the health crisis caused by the attack.

An Interior Ministry official said Baghdad's International Airport has been closed till further notice. The government has closed the airport during a curfew in the past.

Violence on Friday came to the town of Tal Afar, about 250 miles (400 km) north of Baghdad.

A suicide bomber killed 22 and wounded 26 at a car lot in Tal Afar after simultaneously detonating explosives strapped to his body and in a car, police said.

The double bombing took place around 11 a.m. (3 a.m. ET), according to police.

Four killed on minibus
In a separate incident Thursday in Sadr City, police in Baghdad said U.S. troops fired on a minibus and killed four people.

The U.S. military said Iraqi troops looking for an insurgent who apparently knows the whereabouts of a kidnapped U.S. soldier fired at a vehicle on Thursday that posed an "immediate threat."

The U.S. statement said there were no Iraqi or coalition casualties, but it did not specify other deaths or injuries.

The Iraqi troop raid in Sadr City is one of many in recent weeks aimed to rescue a kidnapped U.S. soldier -- Spec. Ahmed K. Altaie, kidnapped Oct. 23 in Baghdad.

In central Baghdad, attackers thought to be from a nearby Sunni neighborhood attacked the Health Ministry, controlled by the al-Sadr movement, police said.

At least 30 gunmen attacked the ministry compound, located in Bab al-Mudham, and Shammari said at least three missiles struck the ministry compound. He said there have been similar strikes in recent days.

Police said gunmen tried to break into the compound and fought with ministry security guards. Employees were in the compound during the incident.

There were no immediate details about casualties.

The Health Ministry official said the attackers were from the nearby neighborhood of Fadhel, a Sunni area, and that they also attacked a Shiite office -- the Shiite Endowment.

The endowment manages Shiite institutions around the country.

Earlier this week, there were other attacks on Health Ministry officials, a kidnapping of a deputy minister on Sunday and the killings on Monday of two guards who worked for another deputy minister.



CNN's Erin McLaughlin and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

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