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

The carnage was believed to have produced the second-worst one-day death toll since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. On March 2, 2004, coordinated blasts from suicide bombers, mortars and planted explosives hit Shiite shrines in Karbala and Baghdad, killing at least 181 and wounding 573.

The bomb that hit as laborers gathered in Kazimiyah was the single deadliest in the country since Feb. 28, when a suicide car bomber targeted Shiite police and National Guard recruits, killing 125 people in Hillah, 60 miles south of Baghdad.

The attack was the second tragedy in the Kazimiyah district in two weeks. On Aug. 31, about 950 people were killed during a bridge stampede as tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims headed to a nearby shrine.

Wednesday's slayings of 17 men came overnight after gunmen wearing military uniforms surrounded Taji, a Sunni village 10 miles north of Baghdad, police said.

Taji police Lt. Waleed al-Hayali said the gunmen detained the victims after searching the village. The victims were handcuffed, blindfolded and shot. In addition to drivers and construction workers, the dead included a policeman, al-Hayali said.