47 Killed in Violent Attacks Across Iraq

Wreckage from Baghdad explosions that took place on April 19, 2012. Despite the withdrawal of US combat troops the violence continues inside the country., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

47 killed in violent attacks across Iraq

English.news.cn
2014-02-27 23:24:06

BAGHDAD, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 47 people were killed and 72 others wounded on Thursday in separate attacks across Iraq, including three deadly bombings here, police said.

In the Shiite area of Sadr City in east Baghdad, a booby- trapped motorcycle exploded at a popular market, killing at least 32 people and injuring 56 others.

At the Muthafar Square of the same city, an improvised explosive device struck a minibus, killing five civilians and wounding two others.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb struck a bus in the neighborhood of Shaab in northeast Baghdad, killing a passenger and wounding three others.

In Tarmiya area, some 30 km north of Baghdad, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and three others wounded when a car bomb targeted an army patrol. Another similar attack injured three soldiers earlier in the day.

In Salahudin province, gunmen attacked a checkpoint manned by members of a government-backed Sahwa paramilitary group in the city of Shirqat, some 110 km north of the provincial capital Tikrit. Two group members were killed.

Salahudin is a Sunni-dominated province. Its capital Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, police found a body of an ex-officer of Saddam's army. He was kidnapped earlier near his house in the city of Maqdadiyah, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad. The body was riddled with bullets and dumped near a river outside the city.

Also in the province, unidentified gunmen shot dead a civilian in Maqdadiyah and fled the scene.

In Anbar province, gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in the provincial capital of Ramadi, some 110 km west of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and injuring five others, local police said.

In the south of the militant-seized city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, snipers shot dead a civilian who was driving his car.

Also in the day, 11 gunmen were killed in their clashes with Iraqi forces near Ramadi. They were believed to be linked to al- Qaida organizations.

Another similar clash about seven km west of Ramadi resulted in the killing of four gunmen.

Anbar province has been the scene of fierce clashes that flared up after Iraqi police dismantled an anti-government protest site outside Ramadi in late December last year.

Iraq is witnessing its worst violence in recent years. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civilians and civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll in recent years.