Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 
Scores of Iraqis Killed in Attacks in Few Days, as Anti-Government Protests Continue

June 29, 2013

Anti-government protests continue in Ramadi, June 28, 2013	Site of an explosion in Tikrit, June 28, 2013.	Site of an explosion west of Baghdad, June 29, 2013

Attack on police in Mosul, June 29, 2013	Attack on people watching a football game south of Baghdad, June 29, 2013

10 killed, 22 wounded in attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 29, 2013 (Xinhua) --

Ten people were killed and 22 wounded in separate shootings and bomb attacks in central and northern Iraq, police said on Saturday.

Three policemen were killed when gunmen attacked their car in an area located east of the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The policemen were joining their base after their vacations when the gunmen surprised them, the source said.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb went off at a marketplace in Abu Ghraib area, some 20 km west of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 11 others, the source added.

In the meantime, a bomb detonated at a car repair shop in the town of Taji, some 20 km north of Baghdad, wounding five people, a local police source said.

In northern Iraq, three policemen were killed and five wounding late on Friday night when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive- laden car into a police checkpoint on a main road near the town of al-Qaiyyara, south of the city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, a local police source anonymously told Xinhua.

In the morning, a gunman was killed and another wounded when a roadside bomb detonated while they were trying to plant it on a road in northern Mosul, the source said.

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

14 killed, 32 wounded in bomb attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 28, 2013 (Xinhua) --

At least 14 people were killed and 32 others wounded Friday in bomb attacks against a funeral and a checkpoint run by government-backed Sunni militiamen in Iraq, the police said.

A suicide bomber driving an explosive-laden car tried to break into a funeral in Dujail, some 70 km north of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A police officer at the funeral opened fire on the car and the suicide bomber detonated the explosive, killing four people, including the police officer, and wounding 12 others, the source said.

Earlier in the day, a bomb exploded in the car of a police officer as he drove his car near a check point manned by the Sahwa militia in Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, another local police source told Xinhua anonymously.

When the people gathered around the site, another bomb exploded, the source said, adding that the two bomb attacks killed 10 people and wounded 20 others, most of them Sahwa militiamen.

The Sahwa militia, also known as the Awakening Council or the Sons of Iraq, consists of armed groups, including some powerful anti-U.S. Sunni insurgent groups, who turned their rifles against the al-Qaida network after the latter exercised indiscriminate killings against both Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks.

High-profile bomb attacks are still common in Iraq despite the dramatic decrease since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.

2 provincial governors survives bomb attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 26, 2013 (Xinhua) --

The governors of Salahudin and Nineveh provinces in north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad separately escaped bomb attacks unharmed, but five of their bodyguards were wounded, police said on Wednesday.

A roadside bomb went off near the convoy of vehicles carrying Governor of Salahudin Ahmed Abdulla al-Jubouri to his office in the northern part of the provincial capital of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blast destroyed one of the vehicles and seriously wounded two of the governor's bodyguards, the source said.

The assassination attempt against Jubouri, who was re-elected as the governor on April 20, is the fifth of its kind in less than two month and the 10th since he first took office after the 2009 polls.

Salahudin is a Sunni dominated province, with its capital Tikrit being the hometown of the former President Saddam Hussein.

Late on Tuesday night, Atheel al-Nujaifi, Governor of Nineveh province, escaped a car bomb explosion near his convoy in the central part of the provincial capital city of Mosul, some 400 km north of Baghdad, a provincial police source anonymously told Xinhua.

The blast destroyed one of the vehicles and wounded three of his bodyguards, the source said.

The attack is the fourth of its kind in less than two months against Nujaifi, who is the brother of the Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi and took office after the 2009 provincial polls

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

Editor: Chen Zhi

13 killed in bomb attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 25, 2013 (Xinhua) --

At least 13 people were killed and some 71 wounded Tuesday in bomb attacks targeting a rally of Shiite Turkomans and some Iranian pilgrims, apparently in an attempt by insurgent groups to stir up all-out sectarian strife in the country.

The deadliest attack occurred in the city of Tuz-Khurmato when two suicide bombers killed 10 people and wounded some 50 during a rally of Shiite Turkoman minority in the city, some 200 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

One of the bombers entered a tent of dignitaries and senior officials and blew up his explosive vest, while the second suicide bomber attacked the security forces and demonstrators who rushed to evacuate the victims of the first blast, the source said.

Among the dead were the deputy provincial governor of Salahudin province and his son, in addition to a leading Turkoman figure and a former provincial councillor, the source added.

The Shiite Turkomans were holding a sit-in on a main road outside Tuz-Khurmato protesting the attacks by al-Qaida militants on their Shiite community in the city, which is part of the disputed areas claimed by the Kurds, Arabs and Turkomans.

The Kurds want to incorporate areas at the edges of their current Kurdistan region into their domain, a move fiercely opposed by the Baghdad government.

The Shiite Turkomans also demand the government to help form a special force to protect their minority from the attacks that they believe to be aimed at displacing them from their homes.

Also in the day, three Iranian Shiite pilgrims were killed and 15 wounded when a roadside bomb struck their bus, while travelling from Baghdad to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, on a main road near the town of Iskandriyah, some 50 km south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source anonymously told Xinhua.

The attack came as hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims were converging in the holy city of Karbala to commemorate the birth of Imam Mahdi, the last of the 12 most revered Shiite's Imams.

Insurgent groups frequently carried out attacks against Shiite pilgrims during communal rituals, killing and wounding hundreds of them in attempts to provoke sectarian strife in the country.

Meanwhile, gunmen attacked a church in the early morning hours in the eastern part of Baghdad and wounded three of its guards, the police said.

On Monday, a series of attacks struck the Iraqi cities, including nine car bombs mostly in the Shiite district in Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and wounding 138.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the al-Qaida front in Iraq, in most cases, were responsible for such suicide bombings in the country, raising fears that the terrorist group and other militia could return to widespread violence, particularly as Iraq is trying to fend off the spillover of the ongoing violence in neighboring Syria.

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

Editor: yan

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Iraq blasts targeting protesters, pilgrims kill 14

25 Jun 2013 11:11 PM

KIRKUK, Iraq:

Bombs targeting protesters and pilgrims outside Baghdad killed 14 people on Tuesday, the latest in a surge of violence that has sparked fears of a revival of all-out sectarian conflict.

The latest attacks came a day after 35 people were killed nationwide, most of them in a wave of car bombings in the capital, as Iraq grapples with a prolonged political deadlock and months of protest.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, which pushed the overall death toll for June above 350.

Tuesday's deadliest attack struck the ethnically-mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu, which lies in a tract of territory in the north that Kurdistan wants to incorporate into its three-province autonomous region over Baghdad's objections.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up inside a tent packed with Shiite Turkmen protesters in the town, killing at least 11 people and wounding 55, the town's interim mayor and a doctor said.

Among the dead were a former deputy provincial governor and his two sons, as well as a former provincial councillor.

The protesters had been rallying over poor security in the town, which is regularly hit with attacks.

"Today is the worst day of my life - no one remains from my friends and relatives," said Hassan al-Bayati, who suffered wounds to an arm and a leg, speaking from his hospital bed.

Referring to the heavy security presence in the town, Bayati continued: "I ask our political leaders - what is the value of the thousands of army and peshmerga (Kurdish security forces) who cannot protect Tuz, even though they are deployed everywhere?"

The unresolved dispute over the territory, which stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria, is cited by diplomats as one of the biggest threats to the country's long-term stability.

Analysts often voice worry that the tensions could spill over into open conflict between central government forces and Kurdish troops.

Also on Tuesday, a magnetic "sticky bomb" attached to a minibus went off as Shiite pilgrims were on their way to the central shrine city of Karbala for Shabaniyah commemorations, which mark the anniversary of the birth of Imam Mehdi, the so-called 12th imam and a key figure in their faith.

Three people were killed and 15 wounded when the bomb went off near the town of Iskandiriyah, police and a doctor said.

In east Baghdad, gunmen wounded two guards outside an Assyrian church.

Tuesday's attacks struck a day after a wave of car bombs across the Iraqi capital and unrest north of Baghdad killed 35 people, with the country struggling with a prolonged political deadlock and violence at its worst levels since 2008.

Attacks have increased markedly since the beginning of the year, coinciding with rising discontent among the Sunni Arab minority that erupted into protests in late December.

Analysts say a failure by the authorities to address the underlying causes of the demonstrations has given militant groups both a recruitment platform and room to manoeuvre.

- AFP/fl

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/iraq-blasts-targeting/724104.html