Suicide car bomber hits Shiite area of Baghdad

updated 4:07 p.m. ET Jan. 25, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber struck a mostly Shiite neighborhood Thursday in central Baghdad, killing 26 people, hours after the prime minister promised the coming U.S.-Iraq security sweep in the capital would pursue militants wherever they were hiding.

The blast occurred shortly after two rockets slammed into the heavily fortified Green Zone. Two hours later, a second huge explosion rocked the area.

Police said they had blown up a second car bomb that had been disabled before its second suicide bomber could detonate it.

The U.S. military said an American soldier was killed Thursday by a roadside bomb northwest of Baghdad.

A massive plume of black smoke rose into the air on the east bank of the Tigris River and heavy gunfire rang out in the aftermath of the explosions in the capital.

The suicide bomber struck in the central neighborhood of Karradah, the second to hit the area in three days. At least three policemen were among the 26 dead from the latest bombing and 54 people were wounded, police and hospital officials said.

Angry Shiite residents took to the streets chanting, “We want the Sunnis out!” There is a small Christian and Sunni population in that section of the city.

The blast destroyed three minivans, 11 cars and dozens of shops, as well as the neighborhood’s post office, according to a resident.

It struck shortly after the explosions in the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. and British embassies and Iraqi government offices. The public address system inside the compound could be heard warning in English that people should take cover because “this is not a drill.”

Six injuries in the Green Zone
The U.S. military said at least two rockets, possibly three, struck the Green Zone, and six people were injured. The attack caused little structural damage, it added in a statement.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor told The Associated Press there were no deaths and the situation was under control.

“The embassy is functioning normally,” he said.

Karradah has been the site of several bombings, including one Tuesday that killed four people and wounded seven.

Ambulances raced from the scene, at least one with the back door still open and bodies stacked in the back, AP Television News video showed.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told lawmakers the coming U.S-Iraqi security sweep in Baghdad would not be the last battle against militants, and he warned insurgents would not be safe anywhere in the country.

Al-Maliki did not reveal the details of the plan, which he has dubbed “Operation Imposing Law,” or say when it would begin.

But he promised to go after those behind Baghdad’s rampant violence no matter where they tried to hide. At the same time, he promised to ensure the rights of innocent Iraqis.

“We are full of hope. We have no other choice but to use force and any place where we receive fire will not be safe even if it is a school, a mosque, a political party office or home,” he said. “There will be no safe place in Iraq for terrorists.”

On Wednesday, U.S. and Iraqi troops battled Sunni insurgents holed up in high-rise buildings on Haifa Street in the heart of Baghdad, with snipers on roofs taking aim at gunmen in open windows as Apache attack helicopters hovered overhead.

The Defense Ministry said 30 militants were killed and 27 captured Wednesday.

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