Twin blasts kill at least three in Iraq's Basra
Reuters
2014-07-05
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Two car bombs went off in quick succession in a commercial area of Basra Saturday, killing at least three people.
The apparently coordinated attacks targeted restaurants and hotels in the southern Iraqi city and were timed to strike Muslims preparing to break the Ramadan fast.
No one is immediately claiming responsibility for the attacks.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI JUM'A, SHOP OWNER, SAYING:
"There was an explosion all of a sudden. I thought that the air cooler had blown up, but then I realized it was a car bomb"
Some members of Iraq's government blame the attacks on Basra's security void.
With radical Sunni militants taking control of parts of northern Iraq, troops have been deployed to reinforce positions.
The campaign by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant started June 10 in Mosul, the north's biggest city, which was quickly overtaken.
The apparently coordinated attacks targeted restaurants and hotels in the southern Iraqi city and were timed to strike Muslims preparing to break the Ramadan fast.
No one is immediately claiming responsibility for the attacks.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ALI JUM'A, SHOP OWNER, SAYING:
"There was an explosion all of a sudden. I thought that the air cooler had blown up, but then I realized it was a car bomb"
Some members of Iraq's government blame the attacks on Basra's security void.
With radical Sunni militants taking control of parts of northern Iraq, troops have been deployed to reinforce positions.
The campaign by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant started June 10 in Mosul, the north's biggest city, which was quickly overtaken.
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