Winks Blog

44 + Killed Around Country

Good Morning,
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants targeted police recruits and shoppers rounding up last-minute sweets and delicacies Sunday for a feast to mark the end of the Ramadan holy month, the highlight of the Muslim year. At least 44 Iraqis were reported killed across the country.

"There will be no holiday in Iraq," said Abu Marwa, a 46-year-old Sunni Muslim father of three who owns a mobile phone shop in the capital. "Anyone who says otherwise is a liar."

In Sunday's bloodiest attack, gunmen in five sedans ambushed a convoy of buses carrying police recruits near the city of Baqouba 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 15 and wounding 25 others, said provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan al-Bawi. The recruits were returning home after an induction ceremony at a police base south of Baqouba.

A series of bombs also ripped through a Baghdad market and bakery packed with holiday shoppers, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens, police said. The attack came a day after a massive bicycle-bomb and mortar attack on an outdoor market killed 19 and wounded scores in Mahmoudiyah, just south of the capital.

The Iraqi Islamic Party issued a statement blaming Shiite militiamen for the attack in Mahmoudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad. The Sunni organization claimed Shiite militiamen had killed 1,000 residents in the town since the start of the year.

Iraq's main Sunni political bloc, the Iraqi Islamic Party, issued a statement Sunday blaming the Mahdi Army for provoking the violence in that city, 20 miles south of Baghdad.

"We call upon the people of Mahmoudiyah to stay calm in this holy month of Ramadan and not to give others an opportunity," Alaa Makki, a leading party member, said at a news conference in Baghdad.

Iraq has seen a surge in deaths during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends on Sunday for Sunnis. So far this month, an average of about 43 Iraqis have died each day, according to an Associated Press count. That compares to an average daily death toll of about 27 since April 2005.

The count is based on AP reporting and includes civilians, government officials and police and security forces. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported. The United Nations estimates about 100 Iraqi civilians are killed each day.

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 10:33 AM