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Four bombs hit central Baghdad, killing 13

Four bombs struck near Baghdad’s heavily-fortified "Green Zone" and a busy square in the center of the capital on Wednesday, killing at least 13 people, security sources said. The blasts came a day after two rockets were fired into the Green Zone, home to the prime minister’s office and Western embassies, and are likely to heighten concerns about Iraq’s ability to protect strategic sites as security deteriorates. On Wednesday, security sources said two parked car bombs were detonated opposite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, killing five people. The Interior Ministry said in a statement the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who blew himself up as he was being searched. The other car was driven by a suicide bomber who blew himself and the vehicle up outside a restaurant close to a checkpoint one street away from the Green Zone, killing four people, the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Dozens killed in series of deadly Baghdad bombings

A new series of car bombings in and around Baghdad on Monday killed at least 23 people, officials said, as Iraq’s Shia-led government grapples with a stubborn Sunni extremist-led insurgency in the western Anbar province. Eight people were killed in two separate car bombs on Monday — one of which was detonated by a suicide attacker — in the town of Mahmudiyah, just south of in the Iraqi capital . Five others were killed by vehicles rigged with explosives in the  Baghdad neighborhoods  of Baladiyat and Hurriyah. A further three explosions — one in Sadr City and two in Abu Disheer — on Monday evening killed 10 people and injured 20. In western Baghdad, also on Monday, police found the bodies of three men and one woman who were all killed by bullets to the head, officials said. And in another incident, two soldiers were killed in clashes with […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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733 Iraqis Killed in January, U.N. Reports

At least 733 Iraqis were killed during violence in January, not including casualties from an embattled western province, the United Nations said on Saturday. Most of the victims — 618, or 84 percent — were civilians; the other 115 were members of the security forces. The figures, issued by the United Nations mission to Iraq , excluded deaths in Anbar Province because officials could not verify the “status of those killed,” the mission said in a statement. They also excluded insurgent deaths. At least 1,229 more Iraqis were wounded last month, the statement said. Baghdad was the most affected province, with 297 people killed and 585 wounded. In Anbar Province, Islamist militants tied to Al Qaeda seized control of Falluja and parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, after the authorities dismantled a protest camp of Sunni Muslims angry at what they see as second-class treatment by the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Car bombings in Iraq kill at least 10 people

Iraqi officials say car bombings in and near Baghdad have killed at least 10 people. A police officer says a parked car bomb went off Monday near the local council building of the town of Mahmoudiyah, followed by another car bomb at an outdoor market nearby. The blasts killed six people and wounded 15. The town is located about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad. The officer also says an explosives-laden car ripped through a commercial area in Baghdad’s northern Hurriyah neighborhood, killing four people and wounding 11. Two medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to media. The attacks come as Iraq’s Shiite-led government is fighting a stubborn Sunni extremist-led insurgency in the western Anbar province. © 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Baghdad attacks kill 16 as Iraq presses Anbar assault

Iraqi SWAT troopers take part in an intensive security deployment on the outskirts the city of Ramadi, 100 km (62 miles) west of Baghdad, January 30, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer BAGHDAD: A series of attacks in and around Baghdad, including a spate of car bombs, killed 16 people Monday as Iraqi forces pressed an assault against militant-held areas of Anbar province. The latest bloodshed comes amid a surge in violence that left more than 1,000 people dead last month, the worst such figure in nearly six years, as security forces grapple with near-daily attacks and protracted battles with anti-government fighters. Foreign leaders […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Kurdish exports stop, giving room for political talks

Unions representing the oil sector and other Iraqi workers are pressing Parliament to pass labor and union laws before their current session ends, measures that would end Saddam Hussein-era imposition on worker rights and go far toward addressing outstanding demands by workers of the state-owned South Oil Company (SOC) .

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple