The number of dead rose to 101 Tuesday in the twin suicide bombings of two Kurdish political offices, the highest confirmed toll in any terrorist attack since the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Kurds blamed Ansar al-Islam, a militant group allegedly linked to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda.
I’m allegedly linked to my mom too ...
Two days after the attacks, this Kurdish city was grieving from the loss. Black banners announced the deaths of loved ones, and nearly every mosque was filled with mourners attending wakes for the victims. "Immortality for the martyrs," proclaimed one large black banner beneath the great Assyrian fortress in downtown Irbil. Passers-by pause to read the death notices. "I want to see who was martyred in the explosions," said Hassan Hussein, 20. "I wonder what that person who did this was thinking when he blew himself up. Who was he?"
| Prob'ly thinking what a hero he was. And how expendable. |
"It was Ansar," volunteered Nezam Othman, 20.
| That was my first guess, too... |
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but many Kurds blamed Muslim extremists -- particularly Ansar al-Islam, an armed group that operates in the Kurdish enclave and is believed allied with al Qaeda. Sheik Abdul-Ghani al-Bazzaz, head of the Kurdistan Islamic Movement, condemned the bombings, saying Islam rejects the killings of innocent people.
| "Our definition of 'innocent' varies, of course..." |
He said he "cannot confirm or deny" if Ansar or al Qaeda were behind the bombings, saying it had become popular to "point the fingers at them" following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Al-Bazzaz said many groups including Saddam Hussein loyalists were carrying out attacks in Iraq because "Iraq’s borders are wide open."
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