Iraq: Eight killed in Basra motorbike bombings

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Iraq: Eight killed in Basra motorbike bombings

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At least eight people were killed in triple bombing in Iraqi port city of Basra.

03 November,2011 03:25 am

Three bombs hidden in motorcycles exploded in a southern Iraqi oil city Wednesday evening, killing eight people who were sitting at nearby cafes, Iraqi officials said.Such attacks are rare in the city of Basra, a center of oil production 340 miles (550 kilometres) southeast of Baghdad.In general, violence in Iraq has dropped considerably in recent years, but militants have been escalating their attacks as the US prepares to withdraw its troops at the end of the year, showing that Iraqs government cannot control the country.The bombs went off near three cafes all within about 500 feet (150 metres) of each other, where young people were sitting, drinking soft drinks and smoking water pipes, said Police Maj. Majid Hussein of the Basra police.He said 24 people were wounded in the blasts.A hospital official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the death toll. He did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. It was unclear whether the violence could have been the work of a Sunni militant group such as Al Qaida, which rarely operates in the overwhelmingly Shiite city of Basra.Shiite militants have also been known to attack cafes or other places of entertainment as a way to enforce their conservative religious agenda.It is hard to control such terrorist acts, even if we put one policeman at each house gate, said Ahmed al-Sulaiti, the deputy head of Basra provincial council.Many international oil companies doing business in southern Iraq have offices in Basra, and the U.S. has a consulate there as well, a reflection of the growing importance of Basra to Iraqs hopes of economic development.In other incidents Wednesday, two people were killed when a roadside bomb went off in the northern city of Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometres) northwest of Baghdad, local police and hospital officials said.In Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometres) north of Baghdad, a 12-year-old boy and his father were killed when a bomb attached to their vehicle exploded, said Police Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir.