Iraq Watch: May 7, 2006

Car Bombs Rock Baghdad, Karbala

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A series of car bombs struck across the heart of Iraq Sunday leaving over 15 dead and dozens more injured.

More than 40 bodies, meanwhile, were discovered in various parts of Baghdad authorities announced Sunday. All the victims were found systematically bound, blindfolded, and shot in the head.

In the Shiite holy city of Karbala, 60 miles south of the capital, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near the town's provincial government building around 9:30 a.m. killing at least five people and wounding 19.

Karbala, home to over half a million, is one of the most revered cities in Shiite Islam. Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, is buried in Karbala. His tumb, located underneath the Imam Husayn Shrine, built in his honor, attracts thousands of Shiite religious pilgrims every year.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad's Azamiyah district a suicide car bomber hit a passing Iraqi army patrol killing 10 and injuring at least 15. Another car bomb in the capital city left one civilian dead and over 20 wounded.

In other violence, a total of three Iraqi policemen, including a sergeant, were gunned down in separate incidents Sunday in Baghdad. Three more policemen were killed in a roadside bombing in the northern city of Mosul.

Also Sunday, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. Marine, assigned to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, died from wounds "sustained due to enemy action" in the volatile Anbar province.