Winks Blog

20+ Killed, 28 Wounded Across Iraq

Good evening,

Across Iraq, at least 20 people died Sunday, a sign that violence continued to abate as U.S. and Iraqi forces press ahead with what many view as a last-chance bid to quell the sectarian violence in Baghdad and central regions of the country.
At least 12 of those killed died in Baghdad and eight of them were slain in the car bombing in a predominantly Shiite district, police said. The attack targeted people grilling meat along the street to offer as charity on a Shiite Muslim holiday marking the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Police said 28 people were wounded.
Police said the bodies of 16 people, most shot in the head and showing signs of torture, were found dumped nationwide, just five of them in Baghdad.
A U.S. official, meanwhile, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for chlorine bomb attacks that struck villagers in Anbar province earlier this week but said tight Iraqi security measures prevented a higher number of casualties.
Three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in the insurgent stronghold including the office of a Sunni tribal leader opposed to al-Qaida. The attacks killed at least two people and sickened 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops, the U.S. military said Saturday.
U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said at least one of the attackers detonated his explosives after he was blocked by an Iraqi police checkpoint in Amiriyah, just south of Fallujah, killing only himself. Fox conceded that many Iraqis were exposed to the chemical fumes but insisted that steps Iraqi security forces were increasingly effective.
"Insurgent attempts to create high-profile carnage are being stopped at checkpoints across the country," he said.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh appealed to Iraqis in the bid to curb violence.
"Opportunity is still available to all honest Iraqis to rescue this country from the criminals," he said at a joint news conference with Fox. "The chlorine attack was a kind of punishment against the people who stood against terrorist organizations."

Have a nice evening.

posted by Wink @ 9:12 PM