Iraq: Late night attacks bring death toll to 116
Iraqi police and pedestrians look at the shell of a car, one of a series of car bombs targeting army and police patrols in Kirkuk and the eponymous province’s towns of Tuz Khurmatu and Dibis which killed at least five people and wounded 20 others on July 23, 2012.
The death toll in Iraq has reached at least 116 after two bombs killed nine people late on Monday, the latest in a string of coordinated bomb and gun attacks against mostly Shiite Muslims, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, a car bomb exploded near a cafe in the Shiite Ameen district, in southeastern Baghdad, killing six men and wounding at least 24 others, according to police and hospital sources.
Three other people died when a roadside bomb went off near their minibus about 20 km west of Baquba, a city northeast of Baghdad.
Reuters reported that at least 299 people were wounded in what was the bloodiest day of violence to hit Iraq this year.
The BBC counted at least nine incidents of violence, including car bombings, that took place in both Baghdad and several towns to the north, while AFP reported 22 attacks in 14 areas.
In the deadliest attack, as many as 18 people were killed in explosions, including a suicide blast, in the Sunni town of Taji, about 15 miles north of Baghdad.
Bombings and shootings were carried out in Saadiyah, Khan Beni Saad, Tuz Khurmatu, Dibis and Kirkuk city.
Security forces were specifically targeted, the BBC reported, adding that police checkpoints had been hit by car bombs, and one police officer was attacked in his home.