{"id":3252,"date":"2013-12-26T07:30:02","date_gmt":"2013-12-26T07:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3252"},"modified":"2013-12-26T07:30:02","modified_gmt":"2013-12-26T07:30:02","slug":"christmas-bombers-target-christians-in-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/12\/26\/3252\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas bombers target Christians in Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"images\/stories\/news3\/Iraq-blast-40-killed.jpg\" border=\"0\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px;\" \/>At least 38 people were killed in three bombings in Christian areas of Baghdad, including a car bomb that exploded as worshippers were leaving a Christmas service, Iraqi police and medics said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <!--more-->  <\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Elsewhere in Iraq on Wednesday, at least 10 people were killed in three attacks that targeted police and Shia pilgrims, police said.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Iraq is enduring its deadliest violence in years, reviving memories of the sectarian bloodshed between Sunni and Shia Muslims that killed tens of thousands in 2006-07.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The day&#8217;s deadliest incident occurred in the Doura district of southern Baghdad when the car bomb went off as Christians were emerging from a Christmas mass, killing at least 24 people.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Shortly before, two bombs in a crowded market in a separate, mostly Christian area of Doura killed another 10 people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Powerful blast<\/strong><\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ahmed Edan, a policeman on duty in the area of the attacks, said the sound of the first of the two explosions caused worshippers to leave the church.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;A car parked near the church exploded when the families were hugging each other goodbye before leaving. The blast was powerful,&#8221; he said.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">&#8220;Bodies of women, girls and men were lying on the ground covered in blood. Others were screaming and crying while they were trying to save some of their wounded relatives.&#8221;<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in Baghdad, which also wounded 52 people.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The US embassy in Baghdad condemned the bombings, saying in a statement that Christians in Iraq had suffered &#8220;deliberate and senseless targeting by terrorists for many years, as have many other innocent Iraqis&#8221;.<\/span><br \/><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Iraq&#8217;s fast-dwindling Christian minority has been a target of al-Qaeda Sunni fighters in the past, including a 2010 attack on a church that killed dozens of people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Source:<em><strong> Agencies<\/strong> <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least 38 people were killed in three bombings in Christian areas of Baghdad, including a car bomb that exploded as worshippers were leaving a Christmas service, Iraqi police and medics said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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