Winks Blog

7 Killed, 23 Wounded, 6 of the 30 Hostages Released

Good Morning,

In Baghdad, a bomb hidden in a trash bag exploded in a commercial area of the Karradah district, killing four people and wounding 21 others, police said.

One person was killed and two were wounded when a bomb exploded near a police patrol in north Baghdad, police said.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, two barbers were killed in a drive-by shooting, police said. Drive-by shootings killed one person in Mosul and another in Muqdadiyah, northeast of the capital.

Six of more than 30 people seized at an Iraqi Olympic Committee meeting were released in Baghdad on Sunday, while a British soldier was killed during a raid in southern Iraq.

The six hostages were left blindfolded and unharmed in the capital's Baladiyat neighborhood, Iraq's Sport Journalist Union said. There was no word on the other hostages, including the Olympic National Committee chairman, Ahmed al-Hijiya.

A former member of Iraq's Olympic committee, Nashat Mahir al-Salman, 75, was the first abductee dropped in the neighborhood, followed hours later by Baghdad soccer coach Ahmed Subhi and four security guards, the sports union said.

The victims were seized Saturday in a daylight attack in the heart of Baghdad. Gunmen blindfolded and handcuffed participants and bodyguards, hustled them into about a dozen vehicles and sped away. The bodies of two bodyguards were found dumped on a street.

The International Olympic Committee in Geneva condemned "these acts against the sport community" and called for the immediate release of the hostages.

The coach of Iraq's national wrestling team was killed Thursday in Baghdad.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 9:44 AM