BASRA, Iraq,13 December 2007 — As many as 40 people were killed and more than 125 wounded when three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Shiite city of Amara in southern Iraq yesterday, police said.
The bombings were among the deadliest in Iraq in months and came as tensions are running high across oil-producing southern Iraq, where rival Shiite factions are struggling for influence as Britain reduces its forces in the region.
One police official in Amara said 40 people had been killed in the blasts, which all happened along the same street in the capital of Maysan province. A health official said 39 were killed and more than 125 wounded.
“Operating rooms are stretched to the limit because of the number of wounded. The city is in shock because it’s the first big explosion like this,” the police official said by telephone.
Most people were killed in the second and third blasts, police said. Many onlookers had gathered after the first blast in a parking lot and were killed or wounded when the subsequent car bombs exploded. Officials said an unknown number of suspects had been detained.
The government in Baghdad issued a statement condemning the bombings and calling them a “desperate attempt” to draw attention away from recent security gains across Iraq.
Britain is expected to hand control of security next week to Iraqi forces in Basra. That will end Britain’s security responsibility of the four southern provinces it once controlled, including Maysan, which was handed back in April.
