Fifty three killed in pre-Eid Iraq attacks

IRAQ: A wave of attacks across Iraq killed at least 53 people on Thursday amid warnings that insurgents would mount deadly attacks ahead of the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Officials reported more than a dozen explosions and shootings in 15 cities and towns nationwide that also left more than 250 people wounded as Iraqis readied to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival.

The latest unrest takes the overall death toll from violence this month to 198, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources. The deadliest violence struck in and around Baghdad, where 26 people were killed in a series of bombings.

In the predominantly Shiite north Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, 11 people were killed and 41 wounded by an evening explosion, while six people were killed and 26 wounded by a car bomb in the Husseiniyah district, also in the north of the capital, security and medical officials said.

AFP