http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010020262081
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 - 17 Safar 1431 H Female bomber kills 54 in Baghdad BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber attacked a column of Shiites on their way on foot to a shrine city in central Iraq Monday, killing 54 people, including women and children, officials said. At least 122 people were wounded in the attack that took place at a female search point at a rest station where the pilgrims had stopped as they made their long journey to Karbala. "At 11.45 A.M. (0845 GMT), a woman wearing an explosives-filled belt blew herself up in the middle of a crowd of people going to Karbala," said Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad operational command. An Interior Ministry official gave the toll and said the wounded were being treated at five hospitals in Baghdad. A medical official said initial reports indicated that five women and six children were among the dead. "We were serving the people when the attack happened inside a search tent for women," said Allawi Hassan, who was being treated at Kindi hospital in the capital. "The moment the explosion happened I felt as if I was flying through the air. I saw men, women and children wounded before I fainted. I then found myself in hospital," added Hassan, whose legs were hit by shrapnels. Iraqi politicians and US forces have warned of rising violence ahead of a general election on March 7, the second parliamentary ballot since the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein but ushered in a deadly and long-lasting insurgency. Figures compiled by the health, interior and defense ministries and released late Sunday showed that a total of 196 Iraqis were killed in violence in January, a slight rise on the toll for the same month in 2009. The figures showed that 135 civilians, 41 police and 20 soldiers died, five more than the 191 Iraqis killed in January of last year. - AFP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
