Ringtone Requiem
From Baghdad Diary (Andrew North, BBC News)
The violence becomes more vicious, random and constant.
Gunfire in our part of Baghdad carries on long into the night now. The distinctive sound of mortars being fired or car bombs wake us up most mornings.
But several incidents stand out.
A gangland-style shooting at an evening groceries market in east Baghdad. Gunmen drove up and raked the stalls with machinegun rounds, leaving at least 10 people dead and many others injured.
Then there was the devastating double-bombing at Mustansiriya university in east Baghdad last week, in which 70 people were killed – most of them young students. One hundred and seventy others were injured.
First, a car bomb was set off at the university entrance. Then, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest in a crowd fleeing the scene.
Rescue workers arriving to retrieve the dead and wounded were greeted by the sound of dozens of mobile phones ringing amongst the wreckage, as friends and relatives tried again and again to check on the fate of loved ones.
Just as depressing now is how quickly such events are forgotten. Seventy students dead in one attack. It is an amazing figure. Anywhere else it would be a story for days
.
