44 killed, 133 wounded in Iraq's violence

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44 killed, 133 wounded in Iraq's violence

(Xinhua) 08:25, September 16, 2013

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BAGHDAD, Sept. 15 -- At least 44 people were killed and 133 others wounded in separate violent attacks across Iraq on Sunday, police and interior ministry sources said.

Three people were killed and 12 others wounded when a roadside bomb exploded inside a popular cafe in the Shala area in northwestern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source anonymously told Xinhua.

Unidentified gunmen stormed into the house of a local leader of the government-backed Sahwa militia group, killing him, his wife and two of his children in the Rashid area in southern Baghdad, the source added.

Two car bombs went off successively at a marketplace in al- Debis area, some 25 km northwest of Kirkuk, killing two people and wounding 16 others, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, two farmers were shot dead in their orchard by gunmen in the town of Abu Sayda, some 30 km north of the provincial capital city of Baquba, about 65 km northeast of Baghdad, a provincial police source said.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb detonated near a house in the city of Buhruz, just south of Baquba, wounding three people, the source said.

Two people were killed and seven others wounded in a car bomb attack in the Meshatal area in southern Baghdad on Sunday evening, the Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

Earlier in the day, up to 31 people were killed and 95 wounded across Iraq in a series of bombings, including 12 car bomb attacks, mostly in the Shiite-dominated southern provinces.

Two car bombs struck a marketplace in the city of Hillah, some 100 km south of Baghdad, while a third car bomb went off in an industrial area, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The three car bombings killed a total of 18 people and wounded 35 others, the source said.

In Iraq's eastern province of Wasit, two car bombs went off outside a restaurant in the town of Hafriyah, some 60 km southeast of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 10 others, a provincial police source told Xinhua.

Another two car bombs went off in succession at a parking lot in the town of Swayra, some 70 km southeast of Baghdad, wounding three people and left some 30 cars burnt, the source said.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb went off in Wasit's provincial capital of Kut, some 170 km southeast of Baghdad, wounding a civilian, the source added.

Elsewhere, three people were killed and 18 wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in an industrial area at the entrance of the holy Shiite city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad, a local police source said.

In southern Iraq, two car bombs ripped through the city of Nasriyah, some 375 km south of Baghdad, wounding 11 people, a local police source said.

Also in the south, a car bomb detonated in the oil-hub city of Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 11 others, a local police source said.

In a separate incident, a civilian was killed and four wounded when a booby-trapped car went off near the convoy of Ryadh al- Adhadh, chairman of Baghdad Provincial Council, in Baghdad's northern district of Adhamiyah, an Interior Ministry source anonymously told Xinhua.

Adhadh escaped the blast unharmed and his convoy safely continued their way, the source said.

Separately, a civilian was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing in Abu Ghraib area, about 25 km west of Baghdad, while another civilian was wounded when a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded in Abu Dsheer district, in the southern part of the capital, the source added.

In northern Iraq, gunmen shot dead three passengers after they stopped their car on a main road in northern the city of Shirqat, some 280 km north of Baghdad, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the al-Qaida front in Iraq, in most cases, were responsible for such suicide bombings in the country.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, which raises fears that the country is sliding back to the full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007, when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.