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| Worshipers Targeted at Christmas Services Near Baghdad | Worshipers Targeted at Christmas Services Near Baghdad |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| BAGHDAD — At least 26 people were killed and 38 others wounded on Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in a parking lot near St. John’s Catholic Church in Dura, south of Baghdad, according to the police and medical sources. | |
| The bomb detonated at the end of Christmas prayers as worshipers were leaving the church, the officials said. | |
| The victims, most of them Christians, included women and children, as well as number police officers posted as guards. | The victims, most of them Christians, included women and children, as well as number police officers posted as guards. |
| A few minutes before the church bombing, and barely a half-mile away, a series of three other bombings in a market in an Assyrian Christian neighborhood left 11 people dead and 22 wounded. | |
| Khaled Yacoub attended services at St. John’s with his wife and two children., “We were happy to go to the church because we did not go for a long time because we were afraid. I was hesitant at the beginning, but after hearing all the assurances we decided to go,” he said. “During the Mass, we heard explosions nearby, the father told us that he will shorten the liturgy so we can leave early. When we were out of the church, I was at the garden with my kids taking photos, a huge explosion occurred in the parking lot of the church while worshipers were leaving to their cars.” | |
| “People were running around,” Mr. Yacoub added. “I caught my kids and entered the church. They were crying. I saw one of the sisters wounded in her legs asking for help.” | |
| He said, weeping, “The priest was talking about peace. He told us that we have to be Iraqi before Christians and we must love each other.” | He said, weeping, “The priest was talking about peace. He told us that we have to be Iraqi before Christians and we must love each other.” |
| His wife, Sahar Yousif, said, “I wasn’t encouraging the Christians to leave the country, but today am rethinking. I do not know who was behind this targeting, but we will not believe the words of brotherhood and peace and coexistence in Iraq anymore.” | |
| Iraqi security forces said that they were providing extra security at churches on Christmas and were searching those entering. One police officer stationed near St. John’s said he did not know how the bomb-rigged car made its way into the church parking lot. | Iraqi security forces said that they were providing extra security at churches on Christmas and were searching those entering. One police officer stationed near St. John’s said he did not know how the bomb-rigged car made its way into the church parking lot. |
| Many Christians living in Baghdad and other provinces traveled in recent days to the Iraqi Kurdistan region to celebrate Christmas and the New Year fearing just this sort of attack. | |
| Elsewhere in Baghdad, six Shiite pilgrims were killed and 11 others wounded when gunmen attacked their bus on a highway southeast of the city. An improvised explosive hit Shiite pilgrims north of Baghdad, killing five and wounding 11, according to the police. |