BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – A series of blasts in Baghdad killed 95 people and wounded 536 in Iraq’s bloodiest day this year, prompting a rare admission of culpability from Iraqi security forces struggling to cope without U.S. help.
At least six blasts struck near government ministries and other targets at the heart of Iraq’s Shi’ite-led administration, weeks after U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban centres in June, thrusting Iraq’s security forces into the lead role.
“We must face the facts. We must admit our mistakes, just as we celebrate our victories,” Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told a group of U.S. and Iraqi military officials on Wednesday.
His comments echoed earlier remarks by Baghdad’s security spokesman, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi.
“This operation shows negligence, and is considered a security breach for which Iraqi forces must take most of the blame,” Moussawi told Iraqiya state television.
His office said 10 Baghdad security officials had been detained pending an investigation into security breaches.
The sectarian war that savaged Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion has abated and Iraq celebrated the restoration of its sovereignty in June when U.S. troops withdrew from cities.
The government this month ordered most blast walls in Baghdad to be removed within 40 days, a sign of faith in its troops and police before a national election in January. But yesterday’s coordinated attacks on heavily guarded targets shattered a growing sense of optimism about Iraq’s stability.
“We will continue to assist the Iraqis in securing their country until the agreements denote that it’s time for us to go,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. A U.S.-Iraqi security pact stipulates a U.S. withdrawal by 2012.
The statement seemed to lessen chances of a slightly accelerated withdrawal, raised as a possibility by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates after a visit to Iraq last month.
In one blast, a massive truck bomb close to a checkpoint for the heavily fortified Green Zone blew out the windows of the Foreign Ministry. Dozens were mown down in a blizzard of glass.
“The windows of the Foreign Ministry shattered, slaughtering the people inside. I could see ministry workers, journalists and security guards among the dead,” said a distraught ministry employee who gave her name as Asia.
The attacks could undermine confidence in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki before the parliamentary election, and could also deter foreign investors, especially oil companies.
