Baghdad street recovers from bomb as another hits

BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (Reuters) Kiosk-owner Abu Fadhil surveyed charred bodies after the second major bomb attack on his street in five days and came to the conclusion that he could never leave his life in the hands of Iraqi security forces.

''We should carry guns to protect ourselves. If we expect Iraqi security forces to protect us we will burn just like those innocent people,'' he said after a suicide bomber killed at least 10 people.

The attack was in the same spot where a car bomb and mortars killed at least 27 people last week in the busy commercial district of Karrada in central Baghdad.

The area has been relatively stable. Shops are still open, unlike other parts of Baghdad ravaged by violence. But some wondered how long that could last as a scene of carnage unfolded.

''My mother, my mother. She was killed,'' said a sobbing boy about 12-years-old who saw his mother die after the bomb sent shrapnel flying in every direction.

Four charred bodies were lying by the wreckage of a building destroyed in last week's blast. Police lifted a body whose legs had been blown off. An old woman's ripped apart corpse was lifted on to a stretcher.

The blast targeted soldiers collecting their wages. But as usual, civilians paid the price for an insurgent campaign designed to undermine efforts to build up Iraqi forces.

People ran in all directions calling out the names of loved ones as police and army forces fired in the air to impose order.

''For God's sake who has seen Ali? My son Ali was standing near the blast area just minutes ago. Dear Ali where are you?,'' asked one woman, who collapsed on the pavement.

Grocery store owner Abu Salam was still grieving from last week's blast when the suicide bomber struck. ''Oh God, we lost the ones we love only five days ago and now we have lost more.

God save us from these terrible killings,'' he said.

Some were more lucky. ''Thank God Adel you're alive. My heart was burning thinking something had happened to you,'' one woman told her son.

Some Iraqis blamed the government sworn in two months ago.

Like others, it promised security.

''The government is useless. Only days ago we suffered from a huge blast here. The interior minister has to admit they lost the war against the terrorists,'' said Abu Fadhil.

REUTERS BDP KP1513