String of Blasts Leave 25 Dead in Baghdad

[Thurston Howe IV]

Oops! I just noticed that this story had already been posted -- so comment on the prior story if interested.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 12 — In some of the most widespread and well-coordinated attacks by Iraqi insurgents here in months, a string of suicide bombings and a barrage of missile and mortar fire left 25 people dead in neighborhoods across Baghdad today.

The violence began before dawn, when insurgents fired mortar after mortar at the International Zone, an area in central Baghdad where the Iraqi government and the American embassy are based. The area is often the target of mortar fire, but Sunday morning's attacks were unusual in their number, with as many as 10 rounds fired, witnesses said.

Then, at 6:50 a.m., a suicide bomber ploughed into a Bradley tank on Haifa Street, a restive area in central Baghdad, near the International Zone. The tank was trying to assist in a fire fight between insurgents and American forces. Two crew members were injured, as were four more soldiers who were shot at by insurgents as they rescued the crew, American military officials said.

Rest of story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/12/international/middleeast/12CND-IRAQ.html