Bombings End Lull In Iraqi Capital - washingtonpost.com

Bombings End Lull In Iraqi Capital - washingtonpost.com: "Bombings End Lull In Iraqi Capital
Dozens Killed By Attacks in Commercial Area

By Ernesto Londoño and Naseer Mehdawi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 19, 2007; A01

BAGHDAD, Feb. 18 -- After a brief respite from carnage in Baghdad, the city's skyline on Sunday once again featured a robust, gray cloud billowing slowly from a devastated commercial area that had been bombed numerous times before.

Two car bombs, placed a few blocks apart in the New Baghdad neighborhood of the capital, exploded in quick succession at 3:30 p.m. An Iraqi official put the preliminary death toll at 40. Other officials quoted by Iraqi television and news services said that at least 60 people were killed and more than 100 injured.

'It was complete devastation,' said Abu Noor, 40, a calligrapher who was in his third-story apartment in the commercial district when he heard the blasts. 'You could see people melting in their cars.'

Some residents wondered whether the latest bombings were a response from insurgents to reports from Iraqi officials that a newly launched Baghdad security plan had gained a foothold in this battered city.

'Those people might be challenging the security plan,' said Faris Salman, 30, a mechanic who works at one of the many spare-parts shops in"