Iraqi bombers target Shia cities

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4109227.stm

Powerful car bomb blasts have killed and injured dozens of people in the Iraqi Shia cities of Najaf and Karbala.
In Najaf, at least 30 people died and 65 were injured when a bomb exploded near the Ali Iman shrine, doctors said.

And the aim of the bombers - believed to be Sunni insurgents - is to kill as many Shias as possible and try to stir up sectarian trouble ahead of the 30 January poll, our correspondent says.

A 15-year-old boy lost his left leg in the blast.

"I felt that I was hit by an electric shock. Then I saw my left leg on the ground."


And, according to the article, it's only gonna get worse as we get closer to the election.

WTF?!

[leftchick]

1. 48 Dead, 90 injured in Najaf , 13 Dead in Karbala!

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Powerful car bomb blasts have killed and injured dozens of people in the Iraqi Shia cities of Najaf and Karbala.
In Najaf, at least 48 people died and 90 were injured when a bomb exploded near the Ali Iman shrine, doctors said.

A similar explosion at a crowded bus station in Karbala earlier left 13 dead and 30 injured, police sources said.

In Baghdad earlier in the day, three Iraqi election workers were shot dead. The violence comes six weeks before Iraq is due to hold elections.

The BBC's Caroline Hawley reports from Baghdad that the attacks appear to be co-ordinated.