Suicide bombers kill 42

Associated Press

BAGHDAD

Suicide attackers detonated three car bombs in quick succession near foreign embassies in Baghdad on Sunday in strikes that Iraqi officials said were intended to disrupt efforts to form a new government.

Police and health officials said at least 42 people were killed and 235 wounded.

The bombings followed the execution-style killings of 24 villagers in a Sunni area two days earlier, a spike in violence that suggests insurgents are seizing on the political uncertainty after the recent election to try to destabilize the country as U.S. troops prepare to leave.

No clear winner emerged from the March 7 vote.

Sunday’s explosions went off within minutes of one another, starting shortly after 11 a.m. One struck near the Iranian Embassy and two others hit an area that houses diplomatic missions, including the Egyptian Consulate and the German and Spanish embassies.

It was not known whether diplomatic staff were among the victims.

Authorities foiled two other attacks aimed at diplomatic targets by stopping the would-be bombers’ vehicles and defusing the explosives.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although multiple, coordinated bombings in the capital are a hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq.

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