Iraq auction of oilfield contracts attact 5 car bombs

What else is new in Baghdad beside the frequent car bombings. Today, 5 car bombs exploded within an hour that killed scored of innocent civilians at Baghdad streets. The rebels certainly has not run out of bombs and even smarter enough to use timer bombs with maximum effect. Is this incident a bomb practice for the insurgents or it has something to do with the auction of oilfield contracts due this weekend. The country holds the world's third largest crude reserves but has failed to ramp up production significantly after decades of war, sanctions and underinvestment.

The death toll from a series of bombings Tuesday morning in Baghdad quickly climbed to at least 112 people killed and 198 others wounded, the Interior Ministry said.

The first of the vehicles blew up in southern Baghdad's Dora (Doura) district about 10 a.m. (0700 GMT), followed by four more car bombs about half an hour later.

Three of the bombings struck at the heart of the Iraqi capital, detonating a few minutes apart. One hit the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, while the others exploded in busy commercial districts -- Nahdha and al-Qashla Square.

The fifth bomb blew up outside the Karkh Civil Court in western Baghdad's Mansour district.

The sounds of sporadic gunfire and emergency sirens could be heard immediately following the attacks, according to the ministry. Smoke from the blasts could be seen billowing into the morning sky.

The blasts, most detonated by suicide bombers, were a brutal reminder of the potency of Iraq's stubborn insurgency ahead of next year's election and an auction of oilfield contracts due this weekend.

"We had entered a shop seconds before the blast, the ceiling caved in on us, and we lost consciousness. Then I heard screams and sirens all around," said Mohammed Abdul Ridha, one of the 197 wounded in the series of at least four blasts.

Smoke billowed and sirens wailed as emergency workers removed the dead in black body bags.

A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle in the car park of a courthouse, after getting through a checkpoint, police said.

Iraq's Oil Ministry said it would not cancel a planned tender of oilfield development contracts on December 11 and 12, which executives from the world's main oil companies were due to attend. The deals are seen as crucial to Iraq's efforts to raise the cash required to rebuild after years of war and destruction.

Workers outside the ministry who had been preparing the premises for the auction fled to safety after the first of three blasts shook the building.

Inside, windows rattled and walls shook, but employees quickly returned to last-minute electrical work and painting.

NEW INSURGENT TACTIC

The blasts were the first large, high-profile explosions in Baghdad since October 25, when two massive truck bombs killed 155 people at the Justice Ministry and the offices of the governor of Baghdad.

After those attacks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is staking his reputation on security ahead of a general election due early next year, promised tightened security and the capture of those responsible.

On Monday, a smaller blast, which some officials said might have involved the accidental explosion of a hidden stockpile of munitions, killed seven children at a school in the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City.

The large-scale bomb attacks in Baghdad in August and October marked a change of tactics for the Sunni Islamist insurgency.

Rather than frequent, smaller-scale attacks against soft targets such as markets or mosques, groups like al Qaeda now appeared to be aiming for spectacular and less frequent strikes against heavily defended government targets.

Overall violence triggered by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has fallen dramatically. In November, the Health Ministry reported the lowest monthly death toll of Iraqi civilians in 6-1/2 years.