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Spiraling violence kills and injures hundreds in
Iraq
More than 40 U.S. soldiers killed in Janaury
BAGHDAD, January 22.— Two Marines
died in an ambush in Al Anbar province, raising the
number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat this month
to 46, DPA reported.
Meanwhile, more than 100 people
died and 200 more were injured after bombs exploded
in downtown Baghdad and the northern town of Jales,
in an escalation of the violence that has been
present since the occupation of this country.
A total of 88 Iraqis died and
more than 160 were hurt after a double car-bomb went
near a market in downtown Baghdad, according to
security forces.
The two explosions occurred at
about midday local time in the Bab Sharki
neighborhood, on the banks of the River Tigris,
leaving a dense cloud of smoke, the AFP reported.
The attack was the deadliest since earlier this
month, even after the attack last week that killed
70 people at the entrance of the University of
Mustansiriya.
Hours later, another 12 people
were killed and 40 more injured after a bomb
exploded and a mortar fell almost simultaneously in
Jales, 80 miles north of Baghdad, in Diyala
province, according to security forces.
On Monday, seven additional
people were killed in Baghdad: four civilians, after
a mortar fell in the Abu Dchir neighborhood in the
south, and three who were killed by armed men in
separate attacks.
In Suwairak, in the south part of
the capital, two mortars were launched at a
procession of Shiite pilgrims, killing six,
including a baby.
Among U.S. forces, at least 3,053
have died since the invasion of the Arab country in
March 2003, according to a count by the AFP, based
on figures from the Pentagon.
In other news, 68% of people in
the United States are opposed to sending more
soldiers to Iraq, according to a survey by the
Princeton Institute for Newsweek magazine,
DPA reported.
(Translated by Granma
International)
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