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Iraq School Explosion: Children Killed in Baghdad School Blast

by Scott Wu | December 7, 2009 at 12:21 pm

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A bomb exploded at a middle school in Baghdad killing at least 8 people, mostly children. At least 40 more were wounded, and the number is expected to rise. The explosion brought down part of the school, and created a 15 feet wide and 6 feet deep bomb crater just outside of a wall surrounding the school.

According to police, 6 children between the age of six and twelve were killed.

The blast happened in Abaa Dhar School of Sadr City, a Shia district in Baghdad.

There have been explosions at markets in Sadr City in recent months, but for residents the attack on children brings memories of some of the worst years of violence, our correspondent adds.

While it was unclear if the explosion at the school was an accident or intentional, the goal of militants behind the spate of attacks on the security forces in recent weeks seems more straightforward. It is an attempt, according to security officials, by militants to regain footing in their former strongholds.

The number of 88 civilian deaths has dropped to the lowest since 2003, but Iraqi and US military officials are concerned about a possible new rise of attacks aimed to destabilize next year's elections.