Winks Blog

11 Killed, 20 Bodies Found, 21 Wounded

Good Morning,

BAGHDAD,More insurgent violence was reported against civilians, with at least 11 people killed, including four children, and 21 others wounded when a suicide car bomber struck a wedding party in Baghdad

The suicide bomber who targeted the Baghdad wedding drove an explosives-rigged sedan into a crowd of Shiite celebrants outside the bride's home in the northeastern Shaab neighborhood at 4:50 p.m., police Lt. Ahmed Mohamed said.

Weddings and funerals are often public events in Iraq, making them relatively easy targets for suicide bombers hoping to spark reprisal attacks from Sunnis and push Iraq into a full-blown civil war.

Five other children were among those hospitalized for their injuries, said Dr. Qasim al-Suweadi of the nearby al-Sadr hospital. Many suffered severe burns over much of their bodies.

Three people were killed and five injured by a car bomb in Sadr City early Tuesday, a day after 33 were killed in a similar attack in the district targeting day laborers lining up for jobs.

Both attacks were carried out despite the U.S. security cordon, bringing accusations from residents that the checkpoints had decreased security by restricting the movement of Mahdi fighters.

At least three Iraqi policemen were also reported killed on Tuesday morning in Baghdad and the volatile western city of Fallujah, police said.

The bodies five unidentified people, including a woman, were found dumped early Tuesday morning in eastern Baghdad, police Maj. Mahir Hamid Mussa said. Those killed had been tied up and blindfolded, with their bodies showing signs of torture, Mussa said.

Five more bodies in similar condition were floating in the Tigris River near Suwayrah, 25 miles south of Baghdad, a clerk at the town morgue, Hadi al-Etabi, said.

Further south, the morgue in the town of Kut reported receiving 10 bodies, including those of five people allegedly killed by U.S. forces in a raid on a house in the Shejeriyah area, 18 miles south of Baghdad, said Maamoun Ajil al-Robaeie, a morgue employee.

New violence was also reported in Baqouba, a chaotic city north of Baghdad where police and militants fought bloody gunbattles last week.

Unidentified gunmen killed three people in a downtown market and attacked a police patrol, killing one officer and injuring two others, according to a spokesman for the Diyala provincial police.

Five bodies were found in the Abu Seida district, 25 kilometers (10 hectares) northeast of the city, said the police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Gunmen killed Sheik Raed Naeem al-Juheishi, the head of a non-governmental organization dedicated to tracing the fate of victims of the former regime of Saddam Hussein, in a drive-by-shooting Monday night in Baghdad's chaotic Dora district, Col. Mohammed Ali said.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 9:30 AM