65 killed in blasts across Iraq :- 14.6.12 - The Pioneer

Car bombs strike Shiite pilgrims in several cities

Awave of car bombs struck  Shiite pilgrims in several  cities across Iraq on  Wednesday, killing at least 65  people and wounding more  than 200 in one of the deadliest  attacks since US troops withdrew  from the country.  The bloodshed was a stark  reminder of the political tensions  threatening to provoke a  new round of sectarian violence  that once pushed Iraq to  the brink of civil war. Nobody  immediately claimed responsibility  for the attacks, but they  bore the hallmarks of Sunni  insurgents who frequently  target Shiites in Iraq.  Wednesday’s blasts were  the third attack this week targeting  the annual pilgrimage  that sees hundreds of thousands  of Shiites converge on  Baghdad to commemorate the  8th century death of revered  Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, who  is interred in a shrine in the  northern neighborhood of  Kazimiyah.  Most of the 16 separate  explosions that rocked the  country targeted the Shiite pilgrims,  but two hit offices of  political parties linked to Iraq’s  Kurdish minority. Authorities  had tightened security ahead of  the pilgrimage, including a  blockade of the mainly Sunni  area of Azamiyah, which is  near the twin-domed Shiite  shrine.  The level of violence has  dropped dramatically in Iraq  since peaking in 2006-2007 as  the country faced a Sunni-led  insurgency and retaliatory sectarian  fighting that broke out  after the US-led invasion that  ousted Saddam Hussein.  But political divisions have  only deepened, paralyzing the  country since the Americans  withdrew all combat troops in  mid-December.  Shiite Prime Minister Nouri  al-Maliki has been accused of  trying to monopolize power,  and tensions spiked after Vice  President Tariq al-Hashemi —  the highest-ranking Sunni in  Iraq’s leadership — was charged  with running death squads.  The Government began his  trial in absentia since al-  Hashemi was out of the country,  drawing allegations the  charges were part of a vendetta  by the Shiite-led Government.  The political stagnation  has set back hopes for stability  in Iraq and stalled efforts to  rebuild the country after eight  years of US occupation.  Baghdad military command  spokesman Col. Dhia al-  Wakeel said the attacks were  intended to reignite all-out  sectarian bloodshed, “but Iraqis  are fully aware of the terrorism  agenda and will not slip into a  sectarian conflict.”  The first bomb struck a  procession around 5 am in the  town of Taji, north of Baghdad,  killing seven people and  wounding two others, two  police officers said.  That was followed by four  more morning blasts that hit  other groups of pilgrims across  the capital, killing 25 people  and wounding more than 70,  according to police and  health officials.