Fear of Clowns

AP,

In just two days, at least 150 people have died in the violence threatening to tear apart Iraq. One of them, Hussein Fadhil, was just 13.

The teenager was in front of his school in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, getting ready to walk into the building when a bomb exploded Sunday, the start of the school week in Iraq.

"He was so happy that morning, as usual," said Hussein's brother, Mohammed. "As I turned my back, I heard a huge explosion and found my brother on the ground screaming."

Hussein suffered serious neck wounds, and was put in a car and sent off to the hospital. He died on the way.

Schools and children have increasingly become targets in a bloody conflict pitting Shiite and Sunni Muslims against each other as Iraq teeters on the verge of civil war. The violence has reached immense proportions in recent weeks, with dozens dying every day and overwhelmed Iraqi authorities seemingly incapable of stopping attacks.

And,

Three groups of gunmen kidnapped at least 24 Iraqis working at a currency exchange and two electronics stores in Baghdad on Tuesday, the interior ministry said. South of the capital, a car bomb exploded as police exchanged fire with two suicide bombers at a police station, wounding at least a dozen people.

The attacks follow two days of violence in Iraq that left at least 151 dead, including 16 people killed Sunday in a military assault on what Iraqis claim was a mosque. Shiite politicians halted negotiations on a new government in response to the assault.

.;.. Fifteen gunmen wearing military uniforms but arriving in civilian cars stormed the Moussa Bin Nasir Exchange Co. in the southwest Harthiyah neighborhood at about 1 p.m., kidnapping six people and stealing tens of thousands of dollars, police said.

At around the same time, seven gunmen in civilian clothes ran into a Daewoo International electronics store in the downtown Karradah district and snatched three employees, including the store manager, police said. A half hour later, masked gunmen in military uniforms and helmets stormed a different branch of the same company in eastern Baghdad, abducting 15 employees, Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said. They also arrived in civilian cars.

The mass kidnappings came a day after gunmen abducted 16 employees of an Iraqi trading company in Baghdad's upscale western neighborhood of Mansour. Those kidnappers also wore uniforms and masks when they entered the headquarters of the Saeed Import and Export Co. Police said they went through papers and computer files before taking away their captives, al-Mohammedawi said.

// posted by Erik @ 3/29/2006 09:00:00 PM
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