Winks Blog

At Least 29 Killed, 25 + Wounded

Good Morning

BAGHDAD, Iraq - American and Iraqi troops swept the oil-rich region of Kirkuk for suspected insurgents and captured dozens, while drive-by shootings, roadside bombings and sectarian violence killed at least 29 people in Iraq on Friday.

A bombing outside a Sunni Muslim mosque after Friday prayers killed five worshippers and wounded 15 people in the city of Khalis, northeast of Baghdad, the army said.

Gunmen in vehicles killed three policemen in west Baghdad and three power station workers headed to their jobs in Taji, just north of the capital, police said.

In southern Baghdad's Saydiyah district, gunmen killed four pastry shop employees, police said. Nearby, a roadside bomb killed a policeman.

Retaliatory killings between Shiite and Sunni Muslims have become increasingly common in the capital since the Feb. 22 bombing of an important Shiite shrine that unleashed the continuing rash of sectarian murders. Police said they found 13 bodies, blindfolded and shot, on Friday in the Binok, Kazimiyah and Sadr City neighborhoods.

Mortar rounds fell on homes in south Baghdad and the northern city of Tal Afar, wounding about 10 people, mainly children.

posted by Wink @ 8:06 AM