UPDATE

Death toll in Iraq blast rises to 36 (AP, Feb. 13, 2011) – The death toll for a suicide bombing the day before on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims rose to 36, Iraqi officials said Sunday about one of the deadliest acts of violence against the country’s majority Muslim sect this year. … Police and hospital officials said 64 people were wounded in the suicide bombing that came after ceremonies there marking the death of a revered ninth century religious figure buried there. … Full story

Pilgrims walk in front of the famous al-Askari mosque in Samarra, Iraq, on Feb. 2, 2004. A car bomb killed eight pilgrims Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 on the road to one of Iraq’s holiest Shiite shrines, a highly sensitive site still being rebuilt after a 2006 attack that sheered off its gleaming golden dome and engulfed the country in years of sectarian bloodshed. (Photo credit: Khalid Mohammed / AP)

——

Suicide Bomber Attacks Iraqi Bus Depot

At least 38 killed, dozens wounded in blast

This image of dead and injured blast victims at the site of a suicide attack in Quetta, Pakistan, on Sept. 3, 2010 (unrelated to the accompanying report) graphically depicts the carnage of suicide bombings.

Feb. 12, 2011

SAMARRA, Iraq — A suicide bomber blew himself up on Saturday near a crowd of Shi’ite pilgrims at a bus depot in the Iraqi city of Samarra, killing 38 people and wounding scores, police and officials said.

The attack was the second suicide bombing this week near Samarra, where Shi’ite pilgrims are commemorating the death of one of their 12 revered imams, and followed a series of recent attacks by insurgents as U.S. troops prepare to fully withdraw. …

Amir Hadi, the mayor of the nearby town of Balad, where some of the victims were taken, said the attack killed 38 people and wounded 74 others. Police in Samarra confirmed the toll. …

On Thursday, eight people were killed and 30 wounded when a suicide car bomber attacked a group of Shi’ite pilgrims heading to Samarra. …

Full story

——

Child victims of war

Ali Hussein, an Iraqi child, lies on a hospital bed in Mosul, Iraq, where he was transferred after being wounded in a suicide bombing in Tal Afar, Wednesday, Oct. 12 2005. At least 30 people were killed and 35 wounded. (Photo credit: Mohammed Ibrahim / AP)

——

Taliban Assault on Afghanistan Police HQ Kills 19

By Ismail Sameem

Feb. 12, 2011

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Taliban suicide bombers killed 19 people, including 17 members of the Afghan security forces, on Saturday in an attack in southern Kandahar province, the focus of NATO efforts to turn the tide of the war.

Insurgents used guns, suicide bombs and a car laden with explosives in an assault on the provincial police headquarters in the city of Kandahar. …

The assault lasted for several hours as gunmen opened fire from the windows of a nearby wedding hall and three suicide bombers blew themselves up. A car bomb detonated near the perimeter of the police compound, the NATO-led coalition said.

The well-orchestrated attack on the high-profile government target underscored the potency of the insurgency in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban’s traditional heartland and focus of a NATO offensive to take back areas under the sway of a parallel Taliban authority. …

Full story

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — February 12, 2010

49 U.S. States Reporting Snow

Video

Snowfall covers 49 of 50 states (NBC Nightly News, Feb. 12, 2010) — More than two-thirds of the nation’s land mass has snow on the ground. The Weather Channel’s Mike Seidel reports. (01:49)

One year ago today, I reported that more than two-thirds of the United States’ land mass had snow on the ground, with snow cover in 49 of the 50 states — Hawaii being the lone exception.

——

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — February 12, 2009

Afghan police officers secure an area in Kabul after attackers struck the justice ministry and prisons department. (Photo credit: Omar Sobhani / Reuters)

Mumbai-Like Strike in Kabul

Two years ago today, on Feb. 12, 2009, I reported that Taliban militants killed 20 people in a coordinated attack on three government buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan, while in Iraq, 16 were killed and 45 wounded when twin car bombs exploded at a bus terminal and market area in southwestern Baghdad.

——