31 killed, 73 wounded in bomb attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Dec. 3, 2013 (Xinhua) --

At least 31 people were killed and 73 others wounded Tuesday in bomb attacks in Iraq, including three suicide bombings, police said.

The deadliest attack occurred in the town of Tarmiyah, some 40 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, when two roadside bombs went off outside the local government building, apparently in an attempt to pave the way for two suicide bombers to enter the building, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A police force guarding the government building opened fire on the suicide bombers and forced them to blow up their explosive vests at the gate of the building, killing a total of nine people, including five policemen, and wounding 11 people, the source said.

Meanwhile, another coordinated suicide bomb attacks took place in the city of Tikrit, the capital of Salahudin province, when a car bomb detonated outside a police administrative building, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua.

The blast was followed by four suicide bombers in military uniforms who drove into the building and two of them blew up themselves at the gate while the two others fought fierce clash with some policemen inside the building, the source said.

During the clash, the policemen managed to free several employees and civilians, while the attackers took control of the building.

Iraqi security forces backed by reinforcement troops and helicopters stormed the building and killed a third suicide bomber, but they lost the fourth who apparently managed to escape, the source added.

A total of 11 people were killed, most of them were policemen, and 25 policemen were wounded by the coordinated attacks, the source said.

Authorities in Tikrit ordered to block all the city entrances and impose indefinite curfew, he said.

Earlier in the day, another suicide bomber tried to ram his explosive-laden truck into a police station in Mkieshifa area, some 40 km south of Tikrit, but the guards opened fire on the truck and forced the attacker to blow it up outside the station, wounding three policemen, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

The casualties could be heavier but the security measures, including concrete barricades, helped reduce the toll, the source said.

Salahudin province is a Sunni dominated province. Its capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of the former president Saddam Hussein.

In Baghdad, a car bomb ripped through Baiyaa district in the southern part of Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 13 others, a police source told Xinhua.

In a separate incident, a civilian was killed and four were wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Amriyah district in western Baghdad, the source said.

Separately, two people were killed and eight wounded when a roadside bomb exploded at an outdoor vegetable market in Abu Ghraib area, some 25 km west of Baghdad, the source added.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a civilian was killed and four were injured when a sticky bomb attached to a car was detonated at a parking lot in the town of Baladruz, some 30 km east of the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source said.

Another civilian was killed and eight were wounded, including a woman and a child, when a car bomb went off in Baladruz, the source added.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 7, 650 Iraqis were killed and over 17,370 others injured from January to November this year.

Editor: Mu Xuequan