40 killed in Iraq bombings

Published: Aug. 24, 2008 at 8:43 PM

BAGHDAD, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- At least 40 people died in bombings in Iraq Sunday, including 25 in a suicide attack at an event celebrating a man's release from detention, authorities said.

The suicide bomber in that incident detonated his explosives about 9 p.m. as people were eating and dancing in Abu Ghraib, a primarily Sunni area about 18 miles west of Baghdad, the Los Angeles Times reported. Many of the survivors were reported to be in critical condition.

"Out of the blue, a very loud blast occurred," a farmer, Hameed Salim, told the Times. "All I could hear were screams and shouts. People thought that I was injured because I was covered with blood, but it wasn't from my injuries. It was of others. Only God saved me."

A pair of roadside bombs that detonated minutes apart in Baghdad killed at least three people, officials said. Also, three men were killed when a bomb hidden in a haystack was detonated as they headed to work in the fields southeast of Baghdad before dawn.

Three attacks in Diyala province left nine people, police said.

Meanwhile, the military disclosed Sunday Abdallah Ashur Shujayri, an al-Qaida in Iraq member suspected of engineering the abduction of U.S. journalist Jill Carroll in 2006, had been taken into custody.

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
UPI Sports Calendar for Sunday, Nov. 22 (6 min)
NHL: Ottawa 5, Buffalo 3 (17 min)
COL FB: Clemson 34, Virginia 21 (20 min)
NHL: Pittsburgh 3, Atlanta 2 (23 min)
COL FB: Houston 55, Memphis 14 (29 min)
UPI NewsTrack Sports (36 min)
NHL: Florida 3, New York Rangers 2 (47 min)
fark
You've shot yourself in the foot. Do you a) go to the hospital, b) call an ambulance, or c) try...
Man attacked by assailants intent on stealing loaf of bread. It's a wonder he survived
Progress: Story about cat stuck on top of utility pole has video. Fail: three minutes of cat's owner...
Photoshop this room under construction
Fili-busted
Pittsburgh plans to tax college students, wants them to pay fair share