4 killed, 7 wounded in violence in Iraq

BAGHDAD, May 31 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including three policemen, were killed and seven others injured in clashes and attacks in Iraq on Friday, a police source said.
Three policemen were killed in clashes with gunmen early Friday in the city of Fallujah, 50 km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Elsewhere, a worshiper was killed and four others were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque after Friday prayers in the Saidiya area in southwestern Baghdad, he said.

Also on Friday, an Iraqi police officer and two civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a checkpoint in Sharqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, he added.

The attacks came amid escalation of sectarian tension between the Sunni and Shiite communities in Iraq, which has been at its highest level since the U.S. troops pulled out from the country at the end of 2011.

from XINHUA
2013-05-31 20:35:21

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3 killed, 30 wounded in twin bombings in Iraq's Mosul

BAGHDAD, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Two soldiers and a policeman were killed and 30 others wounded in two explosions that co-ordinately went off in Iraq's northern city of Mosul on Sunday, a local police source said.
The first blast occurred in the morning inside an under- construction house in the town of Shora, some 40 km south of Mosul, without causing any casualties, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

As Iraqi security forces rushed to the scene of the blast, another car bomb went off, killing two soldiers and a policeman and injuring 30 people, he said.

Nine soldiers and 14 policemen were among the wounded, while the rest of the wounded were civilians, including four children, the source said, adding that the blast also destroyed several military vehicles and three nearby houses.

The attackers apparently followed the old tactic which depends on creating an initial explosion to attract security forces and people, then they set off another blast to get heavier casualties, he said.

Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has long been a hot bed for insurgency and ethnic and sectarian violence since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

from XINHUA2013-05-26 17:35:06

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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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5/17/13: Bombs Targeting Iraqi Sunnis Kill Scores

People gather at the scene of a bomb attack in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, May 17, 2013.

A series of bomb attacks has targeted Sunnis in Iraq, killing at least 70 people and increasing fears of renewed sectarian conflict.
 
The deadliest blast Friday struck Sunni worshippers who were leaving a mosque in Baquba, just north of Baghdad, and was followed by a second explosion as people gathered to help the wounded. At least 41 people were killed in the twin bombings.

Later in the day, a roadside bomb exploded during a Sunni funeral procession in Madain, south of Baghdad, killing eight people.

In Baghdad, a bomb went off in the mainly Sunni neighborhood of Amariyah, killing at least 19 people.

And a bomb went off in a cafe in the city of Fallujah, killing two people.

Friday's attacks follow a wave of bombings in Iraq this week that left more than 100 people dead.

On Thursday, 25 people were killed in separate car bombings in Shi'ite neighborhoods of Baghdad and Kirkuk. And at least 33 were killed on Wednesday in bombings in the capital and other cities.

Prime Minister Nouri-al-Maliki is blaming the deaths on rising sectarian violence that has plagued the country since security forces raided a Sunni protest camp near Kirkuk last month.

Authorities say the raid raised sectarian tensions to their highest point since the pullout of U.S. troops in late 2011.

The United Nations is calling the last month the deadliest in Iraq since June 2008, when more than 700 people were killed.

from VOA News
May 17, 2013

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At least 18 killed, 36 wounded in attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, May 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 18 people were killed and 36 others injured in attacks on Friday in Iraq, including a car bombing near a mosque in the capital of Baghdad, Interior Ministry and police sources said.
The car bomb exploded near the Sunni mosque in northern Baghdad as worshipers were leaving Friday Prayers. At least five of them were killed and 30 others wounded, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blast also damaged several cars nearby, he added.

Meanwhile, a total of nine policemen were killed and six others wounded in clashes between armed men and police in Mosul, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua.

The armed men had attacked several police checkpoints around the city, he said.

Moreover, four gunmen were killed when they attacked a checkpoint belonging to the Iraqi army in western Mosul, the source added.

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

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said Thursday that the death toll among Iraqis from violence in April has hit its highest level since 2008, with 712 people killed in violence across the country.

from XINHUA
2013-05-03 20:09:05

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Car Bombs Kill 18 in Southern Iraq

Street cleaners remove debris on the road after a car bomb exploded in Diwaniya province, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, April 29, 2013.

Car bombs have exploded in predominantly Shi'ite areas of central and southern Iraq, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 50 others.
Two of the blasts Monday happened in Amarah, 300 kilometers southeast of Baghdad.  Officials say those bombings killed at least nine people.

Deadly bombings also hit Diwaniyah, Karbala and Mahmoudiya.

Iraq has seen a surge in violence in the past week that has left at least 180 people dead.

It began last Tuesday when government troops raided a Sunni protest site in the central town of Hawija.  Clashes there left 53 people dead and were followed by unrest in western and northern Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has appealed for calm and dialogue, urging Iraqis in a televised address Thursday "not to remain silent" about what he called efforts by terrorists to drag the country back toward a sectarian civil war.

The violence is the deadliest in four months of protests by Iraq's minority Sunnis, who have been demanding Mr. Maliki's resignation.

They accuse his Shi'ite-led government of marginalizing the Sunni community and unfairly targeting its leaders for prosecution and arrest.

from VOA News
April 29, 2013

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17 killed in Iraqi clashes, attacks

BAGHDAD, April 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed on Thursday in separate clashes and attacks in Iraq, sources said.

At least nine gunmen were killed in the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, when Iraqi security forces carried out an operation to retake several districts which had been under the control of insurgents since late Wednesday night, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The troops also captured 13 suspects and seized some weapons and ammunition, while clashes were still underway in parts of the city after the troops regained some areas, the source said.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, at least three militants were killed and 10 others wounded when security forces backed by two helicopters involved in fierce clashes with militants in villages surrounding the town of Qara-Tappa, some 160 km northeast of Baghdad, Rahim al-Bieji, head of the town council, told Xinhua.

"The town council's members and the security leaders in Qara- Tappa held an urgent meeting to discuss the clashes after the increasing emergence of the al-Naqshabandiyah organization during the past 24 hours in many villages surrounding the town," al-Beiji said.

"The militants are trying to seize the town by cutting the roads to prevent the military reinforcement from the nearby city of Jalawlaa," a security source in Qara-Tappa told Xinhua.

"The reinforcement troops have been engaged in fierce battles with the militants in three areas close to the villages of Hudhaifa and Kashkol in east and south of Qara-Tappa," the source said.

In Iraq's central province of Salahudin, unidentified gunmen shot dead a soldier in an attack on an army patrol in the eastern part of the provincial capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a local police source said anonymously.

Two more soldiers were wounded by a mortar attack on their checkpoint near the city of Yathrib, some 80 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

Elsewhere, gunmen using silenced weapons shot dead two members of anti-al-Qaida Sunni paramilitary group, also named Awakening Council group, in central the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, a local police source said.

Also in the city, gunmen assaulted a police checkpoint in al- Askari district, killing two policemen and wounding another, the source said.

Thursday's violence came two days after clashes erupted between Iraqi security forces and anti-government Sunni protesters in Hawijah, after hundreds of security members backed by helicopters stormed a sit-in by Sunni Arabs in the city, which sparked further clashes across Iraq between the Sunni tribes and the security forces.

from XINHUA
 2013-04-25 21:58:46

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7 killed in bomb attacks against Iraqi mosques

BAGHDAD, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were killed and 24 others injured when two roadside bombs hit worshipers near two mosques north of Iraq's capital Baghdad on Friday, the police said.

A bomb struck worshipers when they were leaving a Sunni mosque near the town of Kalise in Diyala province, a local police source told Xinhua.

Six people were killed and 12 others were injured in the attack, he added.

Separately, one worshiper was killed and 12 others were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a Shiite mosque in Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

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

from XINHUA
2013-04-19 19:58:47

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Baghdad suicide bomb blast at Internet cafe kills 27

(Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself inside a Baghdad cafe popular with young people using the Internet, killing a least 27 and wounding dozens more in one of the worst single attacks in the Iraqi capital this year.
The late evening blast in west Baghdad came just two days before provincial elections that will be a major test of Iraq's political stability more than a year after the last American troops left the country.

Police and witnesses said emergency workers struggled to extricate victims trapped when the blast collapsed part of the building that also housed a shopping centre below the Dubai cafe which was on the third floor.

"It was a huge blast," a police official at the scene said. "Part of the building fell in and debris hit people shopping in the mall below."

Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion, Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda carry out at least one major attack a month, but insurgents have stepped up suicide attacks since the start of the year as part of a campaign to provoke confrontation between the country's Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.

More than 30 people were killed in a series of bombings across Iraq on Monday and more than a dozen election candidates have been killed in the run-up to the vote.

Security officials have been expecting more attacks before Saturday's ballot for provincial councils that will be a measure of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's political muscle before the parliamentary vote in 2014.

A surge in violence in Iraq has accompanied the political crisis in the Shi'ite premier's government, where Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurds share posts in a fragile power-sharing deal that has been mostly paralysed since U.S. troops left in December 2011.

Al Qaeda's local wing, Islamic State of Iraq, has said it will keep up attacks and security officials say the group is gaining ground and recruits in the western desert bordering Syria, thanks in part to a boost from the flow of insurgents and funds into the neighbouring country's war.

from REUTERS
By Kareem Raheem
BAGHDAD | Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:20pm BST
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Editing by Michael Roddy; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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7 killed in bomb attacks near Iraqi Sunni mosques

BAGHDAD, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Seven people were killed and 35 others injured when three roadside bombs hit worshipers near two Sunni mosques north of Baghdad on Friday, local police source said.
Two roadside bombs hit worshipers in succession when they were leaving the Mosque of Omar bin Abdul-Aziz in the area of Canaan near Baquba, some 50 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua.

Seven people were killed and 30 others injured in the back-to- back attacks, he added.

Separately, at least five worshipers were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a mosque in Sada area, 10 km northeast of Baquba, the source said.

The Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area immediately after the attack, he added.

Violence is still common in war-torn Iraq despite the dramatic decrease since its peak in 2006 and 2007 when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

from XINHUA
2013-04-12 20:42:35

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Attacks Kills at Least 50 in Iraq

Residents gather at the site of a car bomb attack in the AL-Mashtal district in Baghdad, March 19, 2013.

Iraqi officials say bombings and other attacks have killed at least 50 people and wounded 160 others in mainly Shi'ite areas of the capital, Baghdad.

The violence Tuesday comes on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion, and a month before Iraq is set to hold its first elections in three years.

The bombs struck in multiple neighborhoods, including Sadr City and near the heavily fortified Green Zone where several Western embassies are located.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.  Sunni Muslim militants in Iraq frequently attack the country's majority Shi'ites to inflame sectarian tensions and undermine the Shi'ite-led government.

Last week, al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq said it was behind a series of coordinated attacks near the Green Zone that killed at least 24 people.

from VOA News
March 19, 2013

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Al-Qaida Group Claims Iraq Ministry Attack

Al-Qaida's Iraqi affiliate group has claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack on a ministry in the capital that killed at least 25 people.

The Islamic State of Iraq said in a statement online it ordered the assault last week on the Justice Ministry, near Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to several government buildings and Western embassies.

The bombings happened one week before the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and a month before Iraq's first elections in three years.

Iraq has been plagued by infighting among sectarian factions. Many Sunnis accuse Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of discriminating against their community. For months, Sunni militants have been carrying out a series of strikes on Shi'ite targets. 

 

from VOA News

March 17, 2013

 

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Coordinated Bombings Kill at Least 9 in Iraq

A series of coordinated blasts rocked the heart of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing at least 9 people and wounding dozens.
The explosions Thursday took place in the Allawi district, which houses several government ministries. It's near the heavily fortified Green Zone, where several Western embassies are located. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The bombings come a week before the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and a month before Iraq holds its first elections in three years.

Iraq has been plagued by infighting among sectarian factions. Many Sunnis accuse Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of discriminating against their community. Sunni militants have for months been carrying out a series of strikes on Shi'ite targets.

from VOA News
March 14, 2013

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Pakistani soldier stoned to death for love affair

English: Map of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Reuters) - A Pakistani soldier was publicly stoned to death on the order of a tribal court in the country's northwestern Kurram region for having an affair with a local woman, government officials and tribesmen said on Wednesday.
Such tribal justice is a stark reminder of the difficulty in establishing a credible civilian administration in Pakistan's semi-autonomous region bordering Afghanistan, despite a series of military operations in the area and Western nations pouring in millions of dollars to help build infrastructure.

Punjab native Anwar Din, 27, was posted last year to the Parachinar area of Kurram agency where he met Intizar Bibi, 19, while manning a checkpost near her home.

The two embarked on a romantic relationship, tribal sources said, and he tried to elope with her when he was later posted to the disputed Kashmir region. It was not immediately clear what evidence there was, if any, of a romance.

"The girl left her home on Monday and met Anwar Din when villagers saw them," said Munir Hussain, the head of the local jirga, or tribal court, that sentenced Din to death. "We took the girl into custody and took the boy to the local graveyard where he was stoned to death and buried."

Din was killed on Monday, he added. A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the jirga had ruled the woman must be shot to death. It was not immediately clear if this had already taken place.

The army was not immediately available for comment.

Kurram, the only part of Pakistan's largely lawless border region that has a significant Shi'ite population, is racked by sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite tribes. Anti-Shi'ite ideology from the Taliban and al Qaeda has meant years of bloody fighting.

Bibi is Shi'ite while Din was Sunni, Hussain added.

The Federally Administered Tribal Areas have never been fully integrated into Pakistan's administrative, economic or judicial system.

Instead, families and tribes often take justice into their own hands, presiding over "jirgas" or "panchayats", gatherings of elders that hand down punishments including rape, killing and the bartering of women to settle scores and restore honor.

In such tribal justice, women often fair far worse than men.

Hussain said that the jirga had also requested that another Pakistani soldier, Saif Ullah, be handed over for helping the couple meet and coordinate the planned elopement.

"The army is here for our security but if they engage in such activities we will not let them stay here," Hussain said. "This is an insult to tribal customs. We will revolt against this."

from REUTERS
By Saud Mehsud
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan | Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:57am EDT
(Writing By Mehreen Zahra-Malik; Editing by Amie Ferris-Rotman and Nick Macfie)

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Twin Car Bombings Hit in Southern Iraq

Iraqi officials say twin car bombings have killed at least five people and wounded dozens more at a busy livestock market in the south.

Police say the attack occurred early Friday in Diwaniyah province, about 130 kilometers south of the capital, Baghdad.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack in the predominantly Shi'ite area. Sunni militants recently have carried out a series of strikes on Shi'ite targets across the country.

On Thursday, a wave of bombings in predominantly Shi'ite areas of Baghdad killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens of others.

The increase in violence coincides with a political crisis that has seen the Iraqi government plagued by infighting among sectarian factions and pressured by almost two months of protests in mostly Sunni regions.

Many Sunnis accuse Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of marginalizing and discriminating against their community.

from VOA News
March 01, 2013

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Bombs kill at least 22 in Iraqi capital

(Reuters) - At least 22 people were killed in a series of blasts in Shi'ite neighbourhoods of Baghdad on Thursday, police sources said, as Iraq's precarious sectarian balance comes under growing strain.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been redoubling their efforts to undermine the Shi'ite-led government and spark deeper intercommunal fighting since the start of the year.

Two car bombs, one parked near a crowded restaurant and the other close to a football stadium, exploded around sunset and killed at least 18 people in Baghdad's southern Shula district.

Violence in Iraq is increasing as Sunni opposition swells against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose power-sharing government has been all but paralysed since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011.

Another car bomb and six roadside explosive devices planted at a market killed four other people in mainly Shi'ite Mahmoudiya, also in the south of Baghdad.

"I was inside my shop when the explosion happened," said photographer Ibrahim Jassam. "There were a groom and his bride preparing to have their wedding picture taken. They left everything and ran away after the blast. I hid in my shop."

A curfew was imposed on the area following the attacks.

Tens of thousands of Iraqi Sunnis have staged protests against Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government in their western stronghold of Anbar on the border with Syria, and al Qaeda has urged them to take up arms.

Al Qaeda-linked militants appear to be regrouping in Anbar's caves and valleys, with some moving into Syria to join the fight against Assad, whose Alawite sect springs from Shi'ite Islam.

Iraq is calmer than in the communal bloodletting of 2006-2007, but Shi'ite leaders fear the war in neighbouring Syria could push the country back towards sectarian strife.

from REUTERS
BAGHDAD | Thu Feb 28, 2013 8:05pm GMT
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem, additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Roger Atwood)

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Shrine blast leaves 4 dead in Southern Pakistan

English: Location of Sindh in Pakistan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ISLAMABAD, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- At least four Sunni Muslims were killed and over 15 others injured as a bomb went off in a shrine in Pakistan's southern district of Shikarpur on Monday night, local media reported.

Geo TV said the sectarian blast targeting the Sunni Muslims occurred when over 50 people were gathering in a congregation hall of the shrine for religious ritual.

Some unknown militants left an explosive laden bag inside the shrine and later exploded it by a remote control, said the report.

The injured people were shifted to Civil Hospital Shikarpur where several of them were in critical conditions.

Walls and roof of the shrine were partially destroyed in the blast in Shikarpur, a main district in the country's southern Sindh province.

The blast was followed by a protest by Sunni Muslims in the district.

Sahabzada Fazal Karim, the leader of the country's prominent Sunni group, "Sunni Itehad Council", condemned the blast and asked his followers to remain calm.

He also demanded government to arrest those responsible for the attack.

No group so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police cordoned off the area and a probe into the incident has been started.

from XINHUA
 2013-02-26 02:02:45

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25 killed in series of bombings, gunfire in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Up to 21 people were killed and some 125 wounded in a series of bomb attacks in the eastern part of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, while a gunfire attack kills four people in the northern city of Mosul on Sunday.

In Baghdad, a spate of car bombs and roadside bombs struck crowded marketplaces and parking lots at the mainly Shiite districts with the aim of causing heavy casualties among residents.

The attacks occurred around 11:00 a.m. (0800 GMT), when three car bombs went off in Sadr City district , two car bombs hit al- Husseiniyah district, and one in al-Ameen, Kamaliyah and Saidiyah districts each.

Two more roadside bombs ripped through Palestine Street and the district of Karrada in central the capital.

The attacks killed a total of 21 people and wounded 125 others, according to the latest reports by the Interior Ministry.

In northern Iraq, the police said that an officer in the provincial intelligence department was killed in the morning by three gunmen in front of his house in the city of Mosul, the capital of Iraq's northern province of Nineveh.

An Iraqi army patrol close to the scene, chased the attackers and killed them after a fierce clash, the source said.

Nineveh province has long been a stronghold for insurgent groups, including al-Qaida militants. Its capital city of Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, is one of the country's most restive cities.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but al-Qaida front in Iraq frequently claimed the responsibility of most deadly attacks in the country, raising fears that the terrorist group could return to widespread violence.

Sunday attacks came amid weeks of unrest and protests in the Sunni Arab provinces over complaints of being marginalized as well as claims that the Shiite-dominated security forces were indiscriminately arresting their sons and torturing them.

Tension remains high in the country despite that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought to defuse the crisis with Sunnis, as he offered release of hundreds of Sunni detainees and halted arrests made based on information from secret informers. He also lifted ban from some of Saddam Hussein's Baath party members and raised salaries for Sunni anti-Qaida militia.

from XINHUA
2013-02-18 00:20:19
Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Suicide bomber kills senior Iraqi army officer

A senior Iraqi army intelligence officer and two bodyguards were killed on Saturday after suicide bombers attacked his home in a well-protected district of a northern town, police and local government officials said.

Iraq has seen an increase in bombings since the start of the year as Sunni Islamist insurgents tied to al Qaeda seek to ignite the kind of sectarian violence that pushed the country close to civil war in 2006-2007.

Two bombers attacked the home of Brigadier-General Awni Ali, the director of the defense ministry's intelligence school, in Tal Afar town, just outside Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of the capital, authorities said.

"Guards killed one suicide bomber, but when the brigadier general and his bodyguards went out another bomber ran among them and blew himself up," a local official said.

Political tensions are high in Iraq as thousands of Sunni Muslims in the west of the country hold daily rallies against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, accusing him of marginalising their minority sect.

More than ten suicide attackers have struck security forces, Shi'ite targets and a lawmaker since January. After the last American troops left in December 2011, insurgents have been carrying out at least one major, complex attack a month.

from ARY NEWS
Updated :   Saturday  February  16 , 2013  4:02:37 PM 

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22 killed in suicide bomb north of Baghdad

A suicide bomber has blown himself up near Taji, north of Baghdad prison in Iraq. (warning graphic image!)(Reuters)

A suicide bomber detonated himself outside an Iraqi prison near Taji, north of Baghdad, on Monday, Al Arabiya's correspondent reported.
Details of the attack are still developing.

Meanwhile, another suicide bomber discharged near a group of anti-Qaeda militiamen as they were receiving their salaries in the town of Taji. The death toll is still unconfirmed, 22 have allegedly been killed, according to AFP.

The attack in Taji, follow a day after separate attacks killed 30 people in north Iraq.

A medic working in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya hospital confirmed the toll.

Sahwa militiamen, mostly Sunni Muslims who helped turn the tide of violence which engulfed Iraq in the wake of the US invasion, took up arms against Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2006. They have often been targeted by the extremist group.

The Sahwa fighters recently saw their monthly salary, paid by the government, rise to 500,000 dinars ($415) from 300,000 dinars.

Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government is hoping this gesture will appease Sunni protesters who have been demonstrating against his rule for more than a month.
Violence was also reported in other parts of Iraq on Monday and during the night.

A police lieutenant, in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Jihad, was killed and three of his colleagues wounded in a blast caused by an improvised explosive device, the ministry official and medics said.

Four people were also shot dead overnight in Kirkuk, hours after a coordinated assault on a police headquarters in the north Iraq city left 30 people dead, officials said.
The security and medical officials said that at around midnight a gunman opened fire on four men sitting in a caravan adjacent to a neighborhood electricity generator, killing all of them.
Districts nationwide are serviced by private generators which fill the large power gap, as most Iraqis get fewer than 10 hours of electricity per day.

Typically, the generator operator and some of his friends stay in a caravan next to the machine to ensure it operates constantly.

The violence comes as Iraq grapples with a political crisis pitting premier Maliki against his government partners amid weeks of protests calling for him to resign.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but local security officials blame Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq, which often targets security forces and officials in a bid to
Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city 240 kilometers north of Baghdad, lies at the heart of a swathe of disputed territory claimed by both the central government and Iraq’s autonomous northern Kurdish region.

The unresolved row is persistently cited by diplomats and officials as the biggest threat to Iraq’s long-term stability.
The violence was the latest in a spike in unrest that saw 246 people killed last month, the most since September, according to an AFP tally.

from AL ARABIYA
Last Updated: Mon Feb 04, 2013 15:24 pm (KSA) 12:24 pm (GMT)

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