http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201351719455459869.html
Scores killed in attacks on Iraqi Sunnis
At least 72 dead and many wounded in bombings in several cities,
including Baghdad, amid fears of more sectarian strife.
Last Modified: 17 May 2013 20:03
Television footage from Baquba showed dead bodies and pools of blood on
the ground [AP]
At least 76 people have been killed in bombings in majority Sunni
districts in Baghdad and surrounding areas in the deadliest day in Iraq in more
than eight months have officials said.
The spike in violence has raised fears the country could be on the path
to a new round of sectarian bloodshed.
Friday's attacks pushed the three-day Iraqi death toll to 130, including
Shias at bus stops and outdoor markets in scenes reminiscent of the retaliatory
attacks between the two Islamic branches in 2006-2007 that claimed tens of
thousands of lives.
In the deadliest attack on Friday, twin bombings near a Sunni mosque in
Baquba, north of Baghdad, killed 41 people and injured dozens.
One bomb exploded as worshippers were departing the Saria mosque while a
second went off after people gathered at the scene of the first blast, police
said.
Television aired footage of bodies on the ground outside the mosque,
pools of blood and the scattered shoes of the victims.
"I was about 30 metres from the first explosion. When the first exploded,
I ran to help them, and the second one went off. I saw bodies flying and I had
shrapnel in my neck," said Hashim Munjiz, a college student, at the site.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Baghdad bombings
In Baghdad, a bomb exploded near a shopping centre during evening rush
hour in the mainly Sunni neighbourhood of Amariyah, killing at least 12 people
and wounding 32.
That was followed by another bomb in a commercial district in Dora,
another Sunni neighbourhood, which killed two people and wounded 22, according
to officials.
In another attack, a roadside bomb exploded during a Sunni funeral
procession in Madain, south of Baghdad, killing eight
mourners and wounding 11, police said.
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An explosion also struck a cafe in Fallujah, 65km west of Baghdad,
killing two people and wounding nine, according to police and hospital
officials.
A day earlier, attacks targeted Shias in several locations.
Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh, reporting from Erbil, said the sectarian
nature of recent attacks were worrying Iraqis.
"You have attacks on Shia worshippers, you have attacks on Sunni
worshippers. It appears that whoever is behind those attacks wants to ignite
sectarian strife," he said.
"It's an indication that security conditions are really going downhill in
this country. There is a huge and growing sense of fear among Iraqis."
Tensions have been intensifying since Sunnis began protesting against
what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the mainly Shia-led government,
including random detentions and neglect.
The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but
the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni
protest camp in the country's north on April 23.
A suicide bomber on Thursday killed 12 people at the entrance of
Al-Zahraa Husseiniyah, a Shia place of worship in the city of Kirkuk, where
relatives of victims from violence on Wednesday were receiving condolences.
Car bombs also hit three Shia-majority areas of Baghdad on Thursday,
killing 10 people.
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