Wave of Iraq attacks kills at least 33

IRAQ: Militants carried out bombings and shootings in 10 cities and towns in Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 33 people and wounding 106, in the latest wave of deadly attacks to hit the country.

In total, at least 253 people have been killed and 803 wounded in attacks in Iraq this month, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources.

Insurgents are regarded as weaker than when violence reached its peak in 2006 and 2007 but they remain able to carry out spectacular mass-casualty attacks and have shown they can strike heavily-guarded sites such as prisons and police stations.

Most of Sunday's attacks were centred in Baghdad and the nearby areas of Taji, Madain and Tarmiyah, where an interior ministry official said 25 people were killed and 59 wounded. Medical sources put the toll at 28 dead and 77 wounded.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car in the central Karrada district, targeting the deputy head of police for the area, a police officer at the scene said.

The explosion scattered debris dozens of metres (yards) from the seat of the blast, shattering store windows and burning several cars.

A headless torso lay surrounded by pieces of flesh. Police, most of them armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, deployed in force on the street, and a fire truck sprayed down the blast site.

“We were working and we heard a loud explosion, and the air changed and everything exploded,” said Firas Dawood, the owner of a nearby shop.

“What do I say about the security measures? Shit,” he said.

AFP