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Car Bombings Continue in Iraq While Evidence Remains Scarce

While the recent car bombings in Iraq are similar to past attacks, they have raised serious questions about the performance of Iraq's security forces and their methods of gathering evidence.
Civilians inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, May 20, 2013. At least 43 people were killed in car bomb explosions targeting Shi'ite Muslims in the Iraqi capital and the southern oil hub of Basra on Monday, police and medics said. The attacks brought the number of people killed in sectarian violence in the past week to almost 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached their highest level since U.S. troops pulle
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The bombings in Baghdad and Basra on May 20 were no different from their predecessors in terms of the method of execution, the number of victims or the importance of the targets. But they did raise several new questions about the adequacy of crime-scene analysis. Iraqi security sources confirmed that a series of bomb blasts on Wednesday, May 15 claimed 137 lives in the simultaneous detonation of 10 vehicles rigged with explosives in the Baghdad neighborhoods of Al-Jadidah, Al-Muhstal, Al-Zaghraniyyah (south of Baghdad), Al-Kazimiyyah, Al-Husayniyyah (north of Baghdad), Al-Mualif (west of Baghdad) and Sadr City (east of Baghdad).

The targeted neighborhoods are densely populated and majority Shiite, and are not considered particular centers of official governmental institutions. They do, however, constitute attractive targets for those working to stoke sectarian violence in Iraq. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq ranked April as the bloodiest month in Iraq since 2008, stating, "A total of 712 people were killed and another 1,633 were wounded in acts of terrorism and violence."

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