Sadr City bombing | |
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Part of the Iraqi civil war | |
Location | Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq |
Date | 23 November 2006 15:10 – 15:55 ( UTC+3) |
Target | Shia Sadr City Slum |
Attack type | Car bombs and mortar rounds. |
Deaths | At least 215 |
Injured | 140 |
Perpetrators | Unknown |
The 2006 Sadr City bombings were a series of car bombs and mortar attacks in Iraq that occurred on 23 November at 15:10 Baghdad time (12:10 Greenwich Mean Time) and ended at 15:55 (12:55 UTC). Six car bombs and two mortar rounds were used in the attack on the Shia slum in Sadr City. [1]
The attacks killed at least 215 people and injured 100 others, making it one of the deadliest sectarian attacks since the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. [2] [3] [4] Following the attacks, the Iraqi government placed Baghdad under 24-hour curfew beginning at 20:00 Baghdad time (17:00 UTC), shut down Baghdad International Airport to commercial traffic, and closed the docks and airport in Basra, Iraq. The curfew was lifted on 27 November. [5] [6]
The attacks occurred while residents of Sadr City were commemorating the life of Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. [7] Al-Sadr was killed by the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein in February 1999.
On 16 November 2006, an arrest warrant for Harith al-Dari, a prominent Sunni cleric, was issued in Baghdad. [8] Moqtada al-Sadr, the son of Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr and a controversial figure in his own right, called out on Friday for al-Dari to issue fatwas prohibiting the killing of Shiites, membership in " al Qaeda or any other organization that has made (Shiites) their enemies," and expressing support for the restoration of the Imam Ali Shrine. When al-Dari has done this, Sadr says he will oppose the arrest warrant against him. [9]
No organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Sadrist politician Ali al-Shemari alleged that the attack was orchestrated by insurgents affiliated with the Iraqi Ba'ath party. [10]