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24 Nov, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq —Muslim insurgents blew up five car bombs and fired mortars into Baghdad's largest Shiite district Thursday, killing at least 161 people and wounding 257 in a dramatic attack.
The coordinated car bombings _ three by suicide drivers and two of parked cars _ billowed black smoke up into clouds hanging low over blood-smeared streets jammed with twisted and charred cars and buses.
The Iraqi authorities put Baghdad's seven million residents under curfew on Thursday evening, saying all people and vehicles must stay off the streets until further notice.
The transport ministry closed the airport and docks in the southern city of Basra, the country's main outlet to the vital shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf.
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