THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Street celebrations following the Iraqi national soccer team's Asia Cup semifinals victory turned into another cruel tragedy Wednesday when two suicide car bombs exploded amid throngs of revelers, killing 50 and injuring more than 130 in Baghdad, police said.

The attacks broke the wave of euphoria that swept the capital and other parts of the nation after the Iraqi team beat South Korea 4-3 in a close-fought game in Malaysia.

Thousands of overjoyed Iraqis poured into the streets of Baghdad, firing their guns in the air and waving huge flags. Iraqis danced and cheered for their mixed-sect soccer team, one of the last national symbols in a country that's disintegrating along strictly drawn lines of Sunni and Shiite Muslim and Kurd.

Witnesses said the first blast at 7 p.m. tore through a crowd that was chanting, "Today is your day, heroes!" in a public square of the once-upscale Mansour district. Iraqi police blamed a suicide car bomber; at least 30 people died and 75 were wounded.

"We were out celebrating in our neighborhood, standing, singing, shouting and clapping, with all the youths cruising in their cars," said Laith Abdul Rahman, 27, who survived the bombing. "What is the matter with these people? Can't they bear it that we Iraqis have something to rejoice in and be proud of?"

Less than half an hour later, a second explosion ripped through another crowd of soccer fans near an Iraqi army checkpoint in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Ghadeer. It was unclear whether the festivities or the military post was the intended target. Iraqi authorities said 20 people, including several Iraqi soldiers, were killed. At least 60 were wounded.

// posted by montag @ 7:42 PM