“26 die in wave of explosions in Iraq,” from the Myrtle Beach Sun, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Insurgents set off at least four bombs Wednesday in Baghdad, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 20 in a continuing campaign to disrupt national parliamentary elections scheduled to take place Jan. 30.
An organization linked to Jordanian terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted man in Iraq, took credit for three of the blasts….
Some Iraqis said they viewed Wednesday’s attacks as a preview of the sustained violence expected until the elections.
“These attacks will increase until election day. Those people don’t want us to live in peace,” Hussam Abdul Khaliq, 23, said Wednesday morning outside a Baghdad hospital where he was looking for a neighbor wounded in one of the blasts.
The Baghdad attacks came the day before Eid, a Muslim holiday commemorating the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.
The first explosion came near the Australian Embassy at about 7 a.m. It sheared off pieces of the building and destroyed windows for blocks, including at the hotel that houses reporters for NBC News and Knight Ridder. In addition to two Iraqi deaths, two Australian soldiers were wounded.
The deadliest blast came about half an hour later near a police station and hospital, killing 18 and wounding 15. The hospital was hit particularly hard.
“There were only small pieces left of the car. Five other cars near it were totally destroyed. Every window in the hospital was shattered; every door was blown off its hinges,” said Ali Abdul Rahman, a doctor at Al Wasiti hospital.
He said blood covered the hospital floor as the dead and wounded were brought in.
“Is this the right place to do an attack against the police or army? There are two hospitals here!” said Leila Hassan, 38, who works in one of them.
Shaking and pale, she said: “What kind of crazy people do attacks in the middle of two hospitals, one of them with women and new babies? What kind of jihad is this? Is it jihad against women and babies?”