Iraq car bombs kill 33 as Britain poised to return Basra
AMARA, Iraq (AFP) — Four car bombs killed at least 33 people in Iraq on Wednesday, including 28 in the southern city of Amara, as Baghdad said it would retake control of Basra province from British forces on Sunday.
Triple car bombs in Amara killed at least 28 people and wounded another 151, 10 of them children, said Zamil Shia'a al-Oreibi, director general of Amara health department.
Amara police Lieutenant Ali Kadhim Hassan said the bombs exploded within minutes of each other, the first going off at 10:30 am (0730 GMT).
Hundreds of relatives rushed to hospitals to seek loved ones as Amara police announced a 24-hour curfew, an AFP correspondent reported.
"The security personnel must carefully check all the cars in the city, especially those entering the city," said Ali Hussein, 35, whose 11-year-old brother was wounded in the attack.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called the bombings a "desperate act aimed at shaking the security and stability in Maysan which had suffered under the former regime." Amara is the capital of Maysan province.
US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the attacks were by a "determined enemy" that "does not want the Iraqi people to live in security and freedom."
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "Clearly violence in Iraq is something that has gone down significantly but is still a major problem."
She said Commander of US forces in Iraq General David Petraeus and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that the security gains made were "quite significant."
"We in no way are out of the woods yet and we have got, still got a lot of work to do," Perino added.
British troops transferred security control of Maysan province to Iraqi forces in April but the region has seen intense Shiite infighting and battles between militias and Iraqi police.
British soldiers pulled out of Amara in August 2006 and the city of 350,000 residents immediately saw gangs of looters move in and strip the barracks bare.
Shiite gunmen linked to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army celebrated the British withdrawal as a victory, boasting they had liberated Amara from an occupying force.
Hours after the Amara bombings, a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-rigged car on a bridge connecting villages with the town of Hit in the western province of Anbar, killing five people, said police Major Majid Omar.
Wednesday's blasts were the latest in a series of attacks over the past week after a group linked to Al-Qaeda warned it would unleash a bombing campaign.
The Amara attacks dealt a blow to claims by London and Baghdad that security in southern regions of Iraq was under control.
However, Baghdad on Wednesday announced it would take over security of Basra -- the key southern province which sits on vast oil reserves -- from British troops on Sunday.
"The handover of Basra will take place on December 16," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told reporters in Basra. A military spokeswoman in Basra confirmed the date to AFP.
Dabbagh said Iraqi forces were ready to take control of Basra. "Our security forces are at a good level" and can manage "security in the province," he said.
Basra police chief Major General Jalil Khalif, who escaped two assassination attempts last month, also expressed confidence.
"We have already been maintaining security since a long time in Basra. You can't see any coalition forces deployed here," Khalif said, adding that tribal and political groups had agreed to support the forces.
"They have agreed to give up heavy arms and also not to carry small arms on the streets," he added.
A British parliamentary committee has said that Britain failed in its original aim of bringing security to southern Iraq, however.
"The initial goal of UK forces in southeastern Iraq was to establish the security necessary for the development of representative political institutions and for economic reconstruction," the House of Commons defence committee said.
"Although progress has been made, this goal remains unfulfilled."
Britain has about 5,500 troops in southern Iraq. They are expected to be cut by more than half to 2,500 by early next year after Iraqis assume control of Basra province.
London says 173 British troops have been killed since the US-led invasion of Iraq to oust dictator Saddam Hussein in March 2003.
