Multiple Car Bombs in Baghdad Kill 131 Iraqi Civilians

American Forces Press Service

April 18, 2007 – Four separate car bombs detonated today in the Iraqi capital, killing 131 Iraqi civilians and wounding about 164, military officials reported. Iraqi security forces responded quickly to the first car bomb attack that occurred in the electronics district of the Karadah Peninsula at about 12:50 p.m. A patrol from 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, arrived on the scene with Iraqi emergency services and reported five people had been killed and nine wounded. The casualties were sent to a local hospital for medical care.

A second car bomb detonated near the Sadr City District Joint Security Station at 3 p.m., on a bridge just south of their location. Iraqi security forces and emergency services quickly responded to the site, reporting 10 locals killed, 15 wounded and 11 vehicles damaged.

At about 4:15 p.m., a third car bomb detonated in a parking lot near the al-Sadriyah market area in central Baghdad, killing 115 local Iraqis and wounding about 137 more. The blast damaged 40 vehicles.

Iraqi police and Iraqi army troops have secured the area and are working with Iraqi emergency services to transport all casualties to nearby hospitals. The vehicle bomb targeting the al-Sadriyah market area did not penetrate the emplaced barriers surrounding the restaurant-laden market area.

A fourth attack, a suicide car bomb, detonated as it targeted the Kaizaran Iraqi national police checkpoint in Baghdad's West Rashid district at about 7 p.m., killing the suicide bomber and one Iraqi national police officer, while wounding another Iraqi police officer and two Iraqi civilians.

Soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st National Police Division, responded with Iraqi firefighters to extinguish burning vehicles and provide aid to those injured in the attack.

These incidents are under investigation.

(From a Multinational Force Iraq news release.)

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