BAGHDAD, Oct 23: Deadly bomb attacks ripped through Baghdad’s streets on Monday as Iraqis marked the end of the bloodiest Ramazan since the US invasion amid spiralling unrest.
At least four blasts, including a car bomb on a crowded shopping street in Baghdad, killed at least eight people and injured more than 20.
As night fell, flashes of fireworks mingled with the familiar crack of automatic weapons and the glow of decoy flares from American choppers.
But as Sunnis began to celebrate Eidul Fitr — Iraq’s Shia majority to celebrate Eid on Tuesday — tensions were mounting around the country following several bloody incidents.
In the southern city of Amara, the army ordered a curfew, just days after it quelled clashes between police and hundreds of militia fighters from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki issued a stern warning to the militia “to refrain from any armed action that violates security... Let all know that the government will deal firmly with those that disrespect the law.”
Nevertheless, tempers were rising once again in Amara, where Sadr supporters accused the police of torturing and murdering the brother of a local commander.
Last week the brother’s arrest triggered a battle that left 24 dead.—AFP
