Winks Blog

15+ Iraqis Killed, 28 Corpses Found, 7 Car Bombs

Good Morning,

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A string of car bombs rocked Baghdad on Monday, killing 10 people and wounding nearly 80 in an apparent campaign to discredit Iraq's new leadership. At least 15 people were killed in other bombings and shootings.

Police also discovered the bodies of 28 people in the capital and the northern city of Mosul. They included 15 police recruits from Ramadi who were kidnapped Sunday and slain by insurgents, police said.

The seven car bombs exploded over a five-hour period in six widely separated neighborhoods across the capital. The first blast occurred near the Health Ministry and killed five people, Lt. Col. Faleh al-Mohammedawi said.

Two hours later, bombs hidden in two cars exploded near Mustansiriya University, killing five others, including a 10-year-old boy, al-Mohammedawi said. Blasts also occurred in central Baghdad, the Karradah district, Mansour and the New Baghdad area in the east of the capital.

Al-Mohammedawi put the total number of wounded at nearly 80, most of them in the two fatal bombings.

The bodies of the 15 police recruits from Ramadi were found in a small truck on the western edge of the capital, al-Mohammedawi said. All showed signs of torture. Insurgents in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, have been warning fellow Sunnis against joining the police and army.

Three other bodies were found in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, including a university student who had been kidnapped earlier in the day, police said. The other bodies were found in separate areas of Baghdad.

The latest deaths brought to more than 70 the number of Iraqis reported killed in insurgency or sectarian-related violence since Jawad al-Maliki was formally tapped Saturday to head a national unity government. The United States believes a unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds is essential to halting the country's slide into chaos.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 9:02 AM