4 killed, 68 wounded in bomb attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, May 21 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed and 68 others wounded in deadly bomb attacks in war-torn Iraq on Tuesday, police said.

At least three people were killed and more than 43 others wounded when two car bombs exploded in the Hussein district in Tuz Khormato, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blasts caused considerable damage to a number of houses and civilian cars nearby, the source said.

One civilian was killed and 25 others were injured when three bombs exploded in a sheep market in the Auraba district of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, according to the source.

Tuesday's violence came amid an escalation of sectarian tension between the Sunni and Shiite communities, which has been at its highest level since the U.S. troops pulled out of the country at the end of 2011.

On Monday, a series of car bombs and shootings mainly targeting Shiite areas across Iraq killed at least 70 people, including several Iranian pilgrims, and wounded more than 200, apparently in an attempt to stir up sectarian strife among Iraqis.

from XINHUA
2013-05-21 15:48:11

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Car Bombs Kills 31 in Iraq

Civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in front of a crowded popular restaurant in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, May 20, 2013.

Car bombs have exploded in mainly Shi'ite sections of Iraq's capital, and in the southern city of Basra, killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens more.

Officials say at least eight car bombs blew up in Baghdad on Monday. Two others went off in Basra, which is predominantly Shi'ite and one of the largest cities in Iraq.

The attacks come amid a spike in violence in the country and high tensions between its Shi'ite majority and Sunni minority.

Bombings and other violence have killed more than 150 people in Iraq in the past week, including 70 who died Friday in a series of bombings targeting Sunnis.

For months, Sunnis have been protesting against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, accusing his government of ignoring their needs and targeting them for arrest.

The unrest has raised fears of a return to the sectarian fighting that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.

Violence has fallen from that peak, but the United Nations said 712 people were killed in April, making it the deadliest month in Iraq since June 2008.

from VOA News
May 20, 2013

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Two car bombs kill at least 10 people in southern Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Two car bombs went off in and near the city of Basra in southern Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 10 people and wounding some 15, a police source said.

In one attack, a booby-trapped car went off at a marketplace in Garnat-Ali area, some 20 km north of Basra, killing ten people and wounding 12 others, the source from Basra police said on condition of anonymity.

A second car bomb detonated at the parking lot of Saad Square in Basra, some 550 km south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, wounding three people, the source said.

The toll could rise as ambulances and civilian vehicles were evacuating people to different hospitals and medical centers in the city, he said.

Violence is still common in the Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease since its peak in 2006 and 2007 when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

from XINHUA
2013-03-17 18:35:23

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Blast kills Iraqi Shia pilgrims in Basra

Suicide attack on worshipers on their way to a mosque leaves at least 53 dead in country's south, local police say.

A suicide attack has killed at least 53 Shia Muslim pilgrims and left another 137 wounded in Iraq's southern city of Basra, local police say.
The attacker, wearing a suicide vest, was said to have been disguised as a policeman when he targeted pilgrims who were passing through a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
The pilgrims were heading towards a Shia mosque in the busy al-Zubair district, west of Basra city. The mosque is home to a seventh century shrine.
The attacks on Shia Muslim worshippers have been blamed on al-Qaeda linked forces.
Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Baghdad, said Iraqi security forces have "been on high alert for attacks of this kind" surrounding the Arbaeen rituals, commemorating the death of Imam al-Hussayn.
The attack is the lastest in a wave of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shia pilgrims on their way to Karbala for Arbaeen rituals, a religious rite that occurs 40 days after the day of Ashura.
The Arbaeen pilgrimage, one of the largest in the world, has drawn 12 million congregants to Karbala itself.
With the pilgrimage becoming a major focus of attacks, our correspondent said, some pilgrims "wrap themselves in white shrouds" - the traditional burial attire for Muslims - along the way.
Iraqi security forces have stationed 30,000 police and soldiers outside Karbala city and along the roads leading to it.
Iraq has experienced political tension along ethnic and sectarian lines after the Shia-dominated cabinet of Nouri al-Maliki issued an arrest warrant last month for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the country's highest-ranking Sunni politician.
Hashemi, who is currently living in Iraq's Kurdish north, was charged with terrorism as the final US troops were leaving the nation.
Basra was also the site a protest last week to denounce a decision by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to shelter Hashemi.

from ALJAZEERA

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