Baghdad: Struck by Series of Bombs

Baghdad: Struck by Series of Bombs

13 people were killed and 74 people were wounded in Baghdad this Sunday (May 22, 2011) by explosions, including a suicide bombing targeting Iraqi troops in the North capital, security officials said.

Violence in Iraq dropped since the height of Secretarian conflict four years ago, but bombings, assassinations and other attacks are carried out daily by a weakened Sunni Islamist insurgency and Shi’ite militias.

Mayor-General Qassim al-Moussawi said there were nine Iraqi troops killed in a suicide bombing when the bomber blew up his car among a group of soldiers investigating a car bomb near a checkpoint in Taji, 20 kilometers North of Baghdad.

"Two vehicles exploded in Taji. The first was a parked car bomb. They were trying to defuse it, when another driver rammed into them and blew himself up," he said.

The victims were described as police officers, source from an Interior Ministry.

Iraqi security forces and police are often targeted by insurgents as Washington prepares to withdraw the remaining U.S. troops at year-end, more than eight years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

Security official said four roadside bombs and a parked car bomb also targeted police base in Amil District, Southwestern Baghdad which killed two civilians and 15 wounded people including three policemen. Another roadside bomb was planted near a hospital in Sadr City in Northeasthern Baghdad which killed two more people and another seven were wounded.Three bombs targeting security forces killed 27 people last week in the northern oil city of Kirkuk.

Iraqi forces will take over full control of security at the end of this year when the remaining 47,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to leave Iraq. U.S. troops are now mainly engaged in training and advising Iraqi forces.

Posted by M.Ferrer on Monday May 23 2011, 2:17 AM EDT. Ref: Yahoo News. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0