Baghdad bombing suggests that security gains are fragile

Baghdad bombing suggests that security gains are fragile

By Laith Hammoudi and Leila Fadel | McClatchy Newspapers


BAGHDAD _ A car bomb ripped through a historic Shiite Muslim district of Baghdad Saturday, killing at least 24 people and wounding at least 46, Iraqi police said. The U.S. military put the death toll at 18.

The bombing in Kadhimiyah, a holy area for Shiite Muslims and the home to the tombs of two Imams, or spiritual leaders, underscores fear that the security gains of the past year are fragile and easily reversible, even in the country’s capital.

Only a month ago, the bridge between Kadhimiyah and the Sunni neighborhood Adhamiyah was a scene of joy. In a sign that the worst had passed, the bridge between the Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods, which had been closed for years, was reopened.

Earlier this month, more than 55 people were killed in a bombing at a restaurant near the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk where Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Turkmen are vying for control. The bombing on Saturday was the largest in Baghdad since Nov. 10, when three bombs killed 28 and injured 68 in the Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiyah.

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