BAGHDAD, Iraq – A suicide bomber struck a crowd of mostly poor Shiites in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 63 people and wounding more than 200 after luring construction workers onto a pickup truck by offering them jobs as they were eating breakfast.
The blast, condemned by both Shiite and Sunni lawmakers, came on a day that saw the U.S. military report the deaths of five more troops. Three Marines were killed in combat, one Marine died of a nonhostile cause and one soldier apparently died of natural causes, the military said. The American deaths raised to 51 the number of U.S. troops who have died this month.
At least 59 other Iraqis were also killed or found dead Tuesday.
The Baghdad suicide attack shattered storefront windows, dug craters in the road and set fire to several cars. People rushed to the devastated area to see if friends or relatives had been killed or wounded. Mangled bodies were piled up at the side of the road and partially covered with paper.
The bombing took place about 7 a.m. in Tayaran Square, where men gather daily to solicit jobs as construction workers, cleaners and painters. They buy breakfast at stands selling tea and egg sandwiches while waiting for potential employers to drive up, making them easy targets.
It was the second major attack in less than a month in which unemployed Shiites were lured to their deaths by a suicide bomber promising to hire them for the day. On Nov. 19, 22 people were killed and 44 were wounded when a minivan driven by a man promising work exploded in the mainly Shiite southern city of Hillah.
Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who gave the official police account of Tuesday’s attack, said at least 63 people were killed and 236 were wounded. Other police put the death toll as high as 71.
Police initially said it was a coordinated bomb attack involving a minivan and a car, but later said there was only one bombing.
Ali Naji, 32, avoided the square as long as he could. He returned Tuesday because he desperately needed the money. One of the car bombs exploded as he watched a group of fellow laborers eating breakfast.
“I saw their flesh shattered,” Naji said.
Workers at Tayaran are poor, mostly Shiite Muslims. Some are professionals, college graduates who lost their jobs and businesses as Iraq’s economy faltered during the past three years. Others are craftsmen unable to find steady work.
The Iraq Study Group report released this month by a bipartisan commission in Washington said unemployment ranges from 20 percent to 60 percent of Iraq’s population.
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