At least 160 die in Iraq al-Qaida bombings
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-15 07:14

As the hours ticked by, at least 11 other car or roadside bombs shattered what had been a few days of relative calm in Baghdad. Two mortar attacks were reported and a multitude of gunbattles broke out between U.S. and Iraqi forces and insurgent attackers.

In addition Wednesday, attackers killed 17 men — including Iraqi drivers and construction workers for the U.S. military — in a Sunni village north of Baghdad before dawn. That raised the death toll in and around the capital Wednesday to 177. A senior Health Ministry official said 570 people were wounded in all.

At least six attacks targeted U.S. forces, Iraqi authorities said. The U.S. military said there were four direct attacks on Americans, with 10 soldiers wounded. No U.S. deaths were reported.

Al-Jaafari, in the United States for the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting, expressed "his personal sorrow for the victims of the attacks," his office said.

In Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a large Iraqi population, al-Jaafari vowed to fight back. "Those criminals will not run away from our justice system. Our cities, our villages will not welcome them," he said.

"This is an horrific act of terror that hurts innocent civilians and needs to be condemned clearly and unequivocally," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. He also called it "another case of people with no more agenda other than to kill, main and destroy."

Speaking before al-Qaida's claim of responsibility, a senior American military official forecast the claim, telling The Associated Press he believed the rash of bombings was in retaliation for Tal Afar.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said the Tal Afar sweep had damaged the insurgency, which he said was made up of about 20 percent foreign fighters.

"Al-Qaida in Iraq lost basically a base area and transit point coming across the Syrian border. That will severely inhibit their operations at least in the short term," the officer said.

U.S. commanders have said the Tal Afar operation netted more than 400 suspected militants. Officials said Monday the insurgent death toll in three days of fighting in Tal Afar totaled 200.

Wednesday's blasts coincided with Iraqi lawmakers announcing the country's draft constitution was in its final form and would be sent to the United Nations for printing and distribution ahead of the referendum. Sunni Arabs, who form up the core of the insurgency, have vowed to defeat the charter.