Baghdad car bomb blasts kill at least 15
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-14 16:31

Two suicide car bombs killed at least 15 people and wounded around 20 during rush hour near an Iraqi Interior Ministry building in central Baghdad on Thursday, ministry and hospital officials said.

The bombs detonated in quick succession about 200 yards apart on a busy street packed with traffic. A Reuters cameraman said children were among the dead.

Two columns of smoke rise following a pair of loud explosions in Baghdad April 14, 2005. Two blasts shook Baghdad near the heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, and shooting broke out immediately afterwards.[Reuters]

Other witnesses said some 15 cars were destroyed in the explosions and human debris was scattered over a wide area.

The blasts occurred near Iraqi police vehicles protecting an entrance to the Interior Ministry building. Reuters television pictures showed several policemen covered with blood.

A man comforts two children who were injured by a suicide car bomb explosion in Baghdad April 14, 2005. At least 15 people were killed in twin suicide bomb blasts near an Interior Ministry building in central Baghdad on Thursday, an official at the Interior Ministry said. [Reuters]

An Interior Ministry official, who asked not to be named, said at least 15 people had been killed. He expected the death toll to rise.

The U.S. military confirmed that two car bombs had detonated but had no further information.

An official at nearby Yarmouk hospital said around 20 people had been brought in with injuries. Several other wounded people were taken to another nearby hospital.

The blasts took place at about 10 a.m. and sent a black plume of smoke over the Iraqi capital.

The attacks underscored the task facing the newly elected government in establishing security. The explosions come after a downturn in violence since an historic election in January.

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