Bombers Target Baghdad Soccer Celebration

Suicide bomber hits Shiite funeral

(AP) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad today, killing at least 28 people in the latest brazen attack since the US troop withdrawal. Police officials said the blast occurred at 11am in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah, where mourners had gathered for the funeral of a person killed the day before. They said 61 people were wounded. More»

Voters casting ballots in parliamentary elections are targets

(AP) - A string of blasts across Baghdad targeting voters killed at least 17 people today, ratcheting up fear as many Iraqis cast early ballots ahead of Sunday's nationwide parliamentary elections. The blasts hit voters outside polling stations. "Terrorists wanted to hamper the elections, thus they started to blow themselves up in the streets," said the deputy interior minister in charge of security. More»

(AP) - Attackers paid $10,000 to get a bomb-laden truck past checkpoints and next to the Iraqi Finance Ministry in last week's attacks, one of the suspected masterminds said in a confession broadcast today. Seeking to fend off widespread criticism over security lapses, the Iraqi military released what it said was the confession of a Sunni man it identified as the planner of one of the two suicide truck bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad. More»

(NEWSER) - Scores of people are dead after seven coordinated bombings rocked Baghdad this morning, targeting both government ministries and poor Shia neighborhoods, the New York Times reports. Two huge bombs and three smaller blasts, probably from mortars, went off at the entrance to the fortified Green Zone, while other explosions hit the slum area of Sadr City. At least 95 people were reported killed and more than 500 injured. More»

70 injured as violent surge continues

(AP) - Two suicide bombers killed at least 34 people and injured 70 in an attack on the home of an anti-terrorism officer in northern Iraq today, while three roadside bombs in Baghdad killed seven others, authorities said. The attacks continue a surge of violence in Iraq's troubled north following the withdrawal of US combat forces from cities to bases outside urban centers at the end of June. More»