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Bomb hits Iraqi forensics centre Iraq crime lab bomber kills many
(about 1 hour later)
A suicide car bomber has killed at least 18 people and injured 80 at a government forensics centre in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police say.A suicide car bomber has killed at least 18 people and injured 80 at a government forensics centre in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, police say.
The attacker apparently tried to drive through a police checkpoint and blast walls protecting the centre in the Kerrada district.The attacker apparently tried to drive through a police checkpoint and blast walls protecting the centre in the Kerrada district.
The building was badly damaged by the massive blast and the rubble was being searched by rescue teams. The building was badly damaged by the massive blast, and the rubble is being searched by rescue teams.
On Monday, bomb attacks near well-known hotels in the city killed 36 people.On Monday, bomb attacks near well-known hotels in the city killed 36 people.
"The building collapsed soon after the explosion," an interior ministry official told AFP news agency, speaking on condition of anonymity. This is the latest in a series of attacks on official buildings, including those to do with crime and punishment.
"Dozens of people usually work in the [forensics] institute." The justice ministry was badly damaged in October by a huge truck bomb, and a court complex was hit in December.
The Associated Press news agency reports that rescue teams in blue jumpsuits were combing through the debris of the three-storey building as a crane removed some of the fallen blast walls. There have been fears that attacks will increase as the parliamentary election approaches in March and those predictions seem to be coming true, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Baghdad.
An Iraqi military spokesman, Maj Gen Qassim Atta, said the forensics centre had been the target of two bomb attacks in the past. 'Vehicles in flames'
"At 1045 [0745 GMT] a suicide bomber raced his vehicle towards the institute" and blew it up, Gen Atta said. An Iraqi military spokesman, Maj Gen Qassim Atta, said the suicide bomber had raced his vehicle towards the Criminal Evidence Department on al-Tahariyat Square at 1045 (0745 GMT).
This is the latest in a series of attacks on official buildings including those to do with crime and punishment, the BBC's Jim Muir reports from Baghdad. One of Monday's victims was a former national basketball team player
The justice ministry was badly damaged in October by a huge truck bomb and a court complex was hit in December. Most of the casualties were staff from the forensics centre, he said, adding that it had been targeted by two bomb attacks in the past.
There have been fears that attacks will increase as the parliamentary election approaches in March and those predictions seem to be coming true, our correspondent says. Hassan al-Saidi, a mechanic who works in the area, said he had seen at least five vehicles in flames and more than a dozen people wounded by flying glass.
"I've heard many explosions in the past but nothing like this," he told Reuters news agency.
The Associated Press news agency reported that rescue teams in blue jumpsuits were combing through the debris of the three-storey building as a crane removed some of the fallen blast walls.
Funerals have been taking place on Tuesday for victims of Monday's attacks.
Grieving relatives held a funeral procession through Baghdad for Monthir Ali Shnawa, a former Iraqi national basketball team player.
In another development, the body of executed Saddam aide Ali Hassan al-Majid is due to be collected by a family member on Tuesday, AP reports.
A grave has been dug for "Chemical Ali", who was hanged on Monday, in his home town of Tikrit, the agency adds.
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