Bombers Defy Security Push, Killing at Least 158 in Baghdad

By Karin Brulliard
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 19, 2007

BAGHDAD, April 18 -- Bombs ripped through several mainly Shiite districts in Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 158 people and wounding scores more, police said, in the worst wave of carnage since President Bush announced three months ago that he would deploy additional troops to pacify the Iraqi capital.

In the gravest attack, a car bomb killed at least 118 people across from the busy Sadriya market, a shopping area that the U.S. military closed to traffic and fortified with blast walls after a truck bomb killed 135 people at the market in February, in the single deadliest explosion since the war began in 2003.

The attacks followed brazen bombings that demonstrated the insurgents' ability to circumvent the U.S. and Iraqi security plan for Baghdad, and renewed fears of reprisal killings by Shiites. Last Thursday, a truck bomb collapsed a popular bridge over the Tigris River and a suicide bomber penetrated the fortresslike Green Zone, blowing himself up inside the parliament cafeteria, killing one lawmaker.

"After two months of the security plan in the hot areas of the city, the attacks have moved to the cold, quiet areas to make them hot, while the hot areas burn," said Nasar al-Rubaie, a lawmaker who heads the parliamentary bloc loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "These target everything that has life in Iraq: universities, schools, neighborhood centers, markets, gas stations and bus stations. But the occupation forces and the government stand still, doing nothing, and let the terrorists play."

Across Iraq, at least 10 other people were killed in bombings and shootings, and 58 bullet-riddled corpses were found, police and news services reported, bringing the day's death toll to nearly 230.

In Washington, Adm. William J. Fallon, the new chief of the Central Command, the U.S. military headquarters responsible for the Middle East, gave a more pessimistic assessment of the situation in Baghdad than other senior officers have offered in recent days. "I believe that the things that I see on a daily basis give me some cause for optimism, but I'll tell you that there's hardly a week that goes by -- certainly almost a day that doesn't go by -- without some major event that also causes us to lose some ground," Fallon told the House Armed Services Committee.

Traveling in Israel, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates blamed the Baghdad attacks on Sunni insurgents, including the group al-Qaeda in Iraq, and said U.S. commanders had warned that terrorists would "attempt to increase the violence in order to make the plan a failure." But he said U.S. and Iraqi forces would "persist."

While execution-style killings have dropped since the security crackdown began, bombings have remained steady. Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a U.S. military spokesman, defended the plan Wednesday, saying it was too soon to assess its results because only 60 percent of the 28,000 additional troops deployed by President Bush are in place. Garver said two additional brigades will arrive in early June to help suppress the violence by shutting bomb factories and killing militants.

But he acknowledged that the military "runs the risk of losing" popular support in the face of continued massive attacks, and said the military was concerned that Wednesday's attacks could trigger a new outbreak of sectarian bloodshed.

Gates told reporters that "we can only hope that the Shia will have the confidence in their government and in the coalition, that we will go after the people that perpetrated this horror."

The Sadriya market bombing devastated a central Baghdad intersection filled with buses and taxis near a famed Sunni shrine. It left a crater six feet deep, engulfed minibuses and cars in flames and shattered the windows of nearby buildings. People ran about frantically, screaming the names of lost relatives.

Sabri Hassan Ali, 36, was in front of his soft drink shop when the bomb exploded about 10 yards away. He saw it blow off the head of a man nearby.

"How can I stand living a normal life and seeing a person who just lost his head in front of me?" Ali said, his voice filled with outrage. "Why are they targeting the innocent people? What is their guilt to die?"

As he spoke, another man ran by, screaming, "Curse Islam! What kind of Muslims kill their own brothers?"

The U.S. military has fortified many Baghdad markets, including Sadriya, with blast walls and barriers to protect against the devastating car bombs that have long plagued busy bazaars. The attacker in Sadriya detonated the bomb about 50 feet from the walled-off market. Garver said it "may have been worse" had the bomber struck inside the market. A U.S. military statement put the death toll at 115.

In a statement, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, called on Iraqis to denounce the "barbarian, savage attacks," which he blamed on "taqfiris," or extremist conservative Muslims. He ordered the arrest of the Iraqi army commander in charge of the Sadriya area and called for an investigation into security measures there.

Shortly before the bombings, the prime minister pledged to have Iraqi troops assume full security control of the nation's 18 provinces this year, news services reported. In a speech delivered on Maliki's behalf as the Iraqi military took control of the southern province of Maysan, national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said the transfers would take place "province by province before the end of the year." But the violence underscored the profound insecurity that the fledgling Iraqi military -- which remains dependent on U.S. support -- would inherit.

About one hour before the Sadriya market blast, a car bomb killed 30 people in the vast Shiite enclave of Sadr City, a stronghold of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, police said; the U.S. military said 10 died. The militia has generally been lying low during the security plan, and Sadr spokesman Abdul Razaq al-Nadawi said fighters would continue to hold back until its leader commands them to fight.

But he accused U.S. and Iraqi forces of failing to protect Shiites.

"The Iraqi government is incapable of establishing security as long as occupation forces are still present," said Nadawi, speaking from Najaf.

"We are pessimistic and afraid of the coming days, because Iraqis are getting fed up. And when nations are provoked, governments cannot stop them," Nadawi added.

Earlier Wednesday, a car bomb exploded in the Baghdad commercial district of Karrada, killing 10 people and damaging several shops, police said. The U.S. military said five people died.

In the southern Shiite city of Basra, demonstrators continued to call for the governor to step down, in a third day of protests that revealed increasing tensions between Shiite factions in the oil-rich port city. Some residents said Maliki visited Basra today to try to calm the situation, but that could not be independently confirmed.

One U.S. soldier died of noncombat injuries in Baghdad on Tuesday and a Marine in Anbar province died Monday in a "non-hostile incident during combat," the military said.

In Baghdad, the Sadriya victims were taken to Kindi Hospital. Its director, Adil Awad, said the hospital received 115 corpses and 126 wounded victims before running out of space.

"We have a disaster now in the hospital," Awad said in a brief telephone interview. Shrieking women could be heard in the background as he spoke.

At the site of the bombing, Ali, the shopkeeper, expressed his frustration. "Saddam's time was much better than the new government," he said. "At least he was providing us security and stability, and he did not make us worry about our children and our lives."

Staff writers Thomas E. Ricks in Washington and Ann Scott Tyson in Tel Aviv and special correspondents Salih Dehema, Naseer Mehdawi, Naseer Nouri and Waleed Saffar in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.