Bombs kill 120 and wound 80 across Iraq

Sun, Jul 22 14:09 PM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Car bombs in two towns south of Baghdad and in the Iraqi city of Najaf killed a total of 20 people on Sunday and wounded 80, police and hospital sources said, in one of the most violent days of the past two weeks. Three car bombs killed 11 people and wounded 38 in Mahmudiya, a town 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, according to police. The first detonated in a car in a parking lot, the second in another car as police arrived at the scene and a third at the town's police station, the police sources said. In Madaen, a town 30 km (20 miles) southeast of the Iraqi capital, two bombs killed five people and wounded 14 in a crowded market, police and hospital sources said. And car bombs planted in a busy trading street in Najaf, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, killed four people and wounded 28, Interior Ministry sources said. Although violence in Iraq has eased since a peak in 2006-2007 when tens of thousands were killed, insurgents still carry out deadly attacks, especially around the capital. The past two weeks have seen a lull in violence in the lead-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started in Iraq on Saturday. Last month at least 237 people were killed and 603 wounded in attacks, making it one of the bloodiest months since U.S. troops withdrew at the end of last year. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Attacks across Iraq kill 107, injure hundreds Mon, Jul 23 11:09 AM EDT 1 of 5 By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 107 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks in Iraq on Monday, a day after 20 died in explosions, in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets. The bloodshed, which coincided with an intensifying of the conflict in neighboring Syria, pointed up the deficiencies of the Iraqi security forces, which failed to prevent insurgents from striking in multiple locations across the country. As well as the scores of deaths, at least 268 people were wounded by bombings and shootings in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad, the Shi'ite town of Taji to the north, the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul and many other places, hospital and police sources said, making it one of Iraq's bloodiest days in weeks. No group has claimed responsibility for the wave of assaults but a senior Iraqi security official blamed the local wing of al Qaeda, made up of Sunni Muslim militants hostile to the Shi'ite-led government, which is friendly with Iran. "Recent attacks are a clear message that al Qaeda in Iraq is determined to spark a bloody sectarian war," the official said, asking not to be named. "With what's going on in Syria, these attacks should be taken seriously as a potential threat to our country. Al Qaeda is trying to push Iraq to the verge of Shi'ite-Sunni war," he said. "They want things to be as bad as in Syria." Iraq, whose desert province of Anbar, a Sunni heartland, borders Syria, is nervous about the impact of the conflict in its neighbor where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to end President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite-dominated rule. The Iraqi government said on Monday it rejected Arab League calls for Assad to quit, saying it was for the Syrian people alone to decide his fate and others "should not interfere". Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Doha earlier in the day offered Assad a "safe exit" if he stepped down swiftly. Baghdad advocates reform in Syria, rather than endorsing calls by Sunni-ruled Gulf nations for Assad's removal. The last two days of attacks in Iraq shattered a two-week lull in violence in the run-up to the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which Iraqis began observing on Saturday. Sectarian slaughter peaked in 2006-2007 but deadly attacks have persisted while political tensions among Iraq's main Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions have increased since U.S. troops completed their withdrawal in December. "I ask the government if security forces are capable of keeping control," a man named Ahmed Salim shouted angrily at the scene of a car bomb in Kirkuk. "With all these bloody bombs and innocent people killed, the government should reconsider its security plans," he told Reuters Television. TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION The security forces themselves were often the targets or victims of the assaults perpetrated across Iraq. Gunmen using assault rifles and hand grenades killed at least 16 soldiers in an attack on an army post near Dhuluiya, 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad, police and army sources said. In Taji, 20 km north of Baghdad, six explosions, including a car bombing, occurred near a housing complex. A seventh blast there caused carnage among police who had arrived at the scene of the earlier ones. In all, 32 people were killed, including 14 police, with 48 wounded, 10 of the police. Two car bombs struck near a government building in Sadr City, a vast, poor Shi'ite swathe of Baghdad, and in the mainly Shi'ite area of Hussainiya on the outskirts of the capital, killing a total of 21 people and wounding 73, police said. Nine people, including six soldiers, were killed in attacks in the northern city of Mosul, police and army sources said. In Kirkuk, five car bombs killed six people and wounded 17, while explosions and gun attacks on security checkpoints around the restive province of Diyala killed six people, including four soldiers and policemen, and wounded 30, police sources said. Other deadly attacks occurred in the towns of Khan Bani Saad, Udhaim, Tuz Khurmato, Samarra and Dujail, all north of Baghdad, as well as in the southern city of Diwaniya. The orchestrated spate of violence followed car bombs on Sunday in two towns south of Baghdad and in the Shi'ite shrine city of Najaf that killed 20 people and wounded 80. Last month was one of the bloodiest since the U.S. withdrawal, with at least 237 people killed and 603 wounded. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis took refuge in Syria from bloodshed that lasted for years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Last week the Iraqi government urged them to return home to escape the violence in Syria. At least 80 buses laden with returning Iraqi refugees crossed the border last week, a U.N. spokeswoman said. Iraq's Shi'ite-led government is also worried about the longer-term implications if Assad falls and Syria's majority Sunnis overthrow the supremacy of the president's Alawite sect, which traces its roots to Shi'ite Islam. A sectarian struggle for control in post-Assad Syria could raise tensions across the border and damage Iraq's chances of overcoming its own formidable security and political challenges. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Angus MacSwan) ============== Car bombs kill 14 in Baghdad LAST UPDATE Tue, 31 Jul 2012 15:07:09 GMT At least 14 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in twin car bombs that exploded in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The first explosion occurred on Tuesday afternoon when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated in a shopping center in Karradah neighborhood, killing six and injuring 18 others. A second blast followed a few minutes later in front of the Iraqi passport office, leaving eight dead and 22 more wounded. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but al-Qaeda has recently warned it is seeking to take control of the country. Earlier in July, Iraqi lawmaker Hakem al-Zameli highlighted a “direct connection between the events in Syria and the [persisting] insecurity in Iraq.” He said “those that conduct murder and bombings in Iraq are the same people who are currently engaged in bombing and killing the Syrian people.” == BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two car bombs ripped into a busy intersection and a public square in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 19 people a week after a wave of deadly bombings highlighted Iraq's struggle with militant groups. Clouds of dark smoke rose above the centre of the capital where the bombs exploded just minutes apart, leaving dead and wounded lying in the street and slumped inside a damaged minibus, witnesses and police said. Violence in Iraq has coincided with intensifying bloodshed in neighboring Syria, where Iraqi officials warn some Sunni Muslim insurgents are heading, and with calls by al Qaeda's local Iraqi affiliate for a renewed campaign of attacks. Three young men in blood-stained T-shirts searched for a friend near the wreckage of one of Tuesday's blasts in Baghdad and women in traditional abaya gowns screamed out the name of a missing relative, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. "We were in a patrol when we heard the first explosion. The second explosion hit another square, and we went to help... There was a minibus with six dead passengers inside it," said Ahmed Hassan, a police officer. The explosions followed attacks and bombings in Baghdad and across the country on July 23 that killed more than 100 people in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi'ite Muslim targets. An al Qaeda affiliate known as the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility. Violence has eased since sectarian killings reached their height in 2006-2007 when tens of thousands of Sunnis and Shi'ites were slain. But insurgents have carried out a major attack at least once a month since the last U.S. troops left Iraq in December, nine years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Al Qaeda often targets Shi'ite pilgrims or religious sites in an attempt to stir up sectarian tensions or to show that Iraq's armed forces are unable to protect civilians. Last month was one of the bloodiest since the U.S. withdrawal, with at least 237 people killed and 603 wounded. Iraq's violence often feeds into political tensions. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, is fending off attempts by Sunni and Kurdish rivals to vote him out of office, threatening to scuttle a fragile power-sharing agreement. (Additional reporting by Aseel Kami and Saad Shalash in Baghdad; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Alistair Lyon) ====== String of Iraq car bomb blasts kill at least 17 Sun, Sep 30 03:47 AM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A string of car bomb blasts targeting mainly police checkpoints killed at least 17 people across Iraq on Sunday, police and hospital sources said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Violence in Iraq has eased since its height in 2006-2007 when sectarian fighting killed thousands of people, but Sunni Islamists and an al Qaeda affiliate still launch regular attacks, seeking to undermine the Shi'ite-led government. The most deadly explosion took place in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, where bombs in three parked cars went off separately, killing eight people and wounding 22. A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up in the city of Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, killing four policemen, police and local officials said. In Baghdad, a parked car bomb killed two people in a northwestern district. Another blast near a public market in Khan Bani Saad, 30 km (20 miles) northeast of the capital, killed one civilian and wounded several policemen. Two more policemen were killed when a car bomb went off in the town of Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Diana Abdallah) =============== String of Iraq car bomb blasts kill at least 32 Sun, Sep 30 08:10 AM EDT 1 of 6 By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings and shootings killed more than 32 people across Iraq on Sunday, underscoring the government's struggle with a stubborn insurgency more than nine months after the last U.S. troops withdrew. In Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, bombs in three parked cars went off separately, killing 11 people and wounding 24, including several policemen. Reuters footage of the scene of one of the explosions showed the remains of an exploded car surrounded by several completely and partially destroyed houses and cars. Taji has one of Iraq's largest military airbases but the bombing hit a civilian neighborhood. "A car bomb entered the area and no one... noticed this. Why did that happen? All the houses were destroyed," said Khadiar Abas, owner of one of the damaged homes. In Baghdad, a suicide car bomb and two parked car bombs went off, killing eight people including a police officer and wounding another 11. Another blast targeted a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims as it passed through the town of Madaen, about 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Baghdad, killing two passers-by and wounding another ten, including seven Iranians. A suicide bomber in a car blew himself up in the city of Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, killing four policemen, police and local officials said. No group claimed responsibility for the raft of attacks, but a local al Qaeda affiliate and other Sunni Islamist groups have carried out at least one major assault a month since the last American troops left in December. Al Qaeda's local wing, the Islamic State of Iraq, says it has begun a new offensive against mainly Shi'ite targets. Security experts say it has benefited from the conflict in Syria, which has given al-Qaeda the pretext to seek more money and arms from Sunni tribes, politicians and governments. Security had been tightened in Baghdad and other provinces after dozens of inmates, including convicted members of al Qaeda, fought their way out of a prison in the northern city of Tikrit on Friday using weapons officials said had been smuggled in during family visits. Two more policemen were killed when a car bomb went off in the town of Balad Ruz, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad. In Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a parked car bomb and two roadside bombs blew up separately, killing a civilian and wounding six. The last major attacks occurred on September 9, in the capital when a series of bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts ended one of the bloodiest days of the year with more than 100 killed across the country. Violence in Iraq has eased since its height in 2006-2007 when sectarian fighting killed thousands of people, but Sunni Islamists are still seeking to undermine the Shi'ite-led government. (Writing by Suadad al-Salhy; editing by Patrick Graham) =============