Wave of Attacks Kills 32 in Iraq

Series of bombings appear coordinated, likely al-Qaeda in Iraq
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 16, 2013 9:30 AM CDT
Wave of Attacks Kills 32 in Iraq
Iraqis inspect their damaged shop after a car bomb attack outside Kut, Iraq, Sunday, Jun 16, 2013. Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majority areas and were the cause of most of the casualties.   (Karim Kadim)

A string of nearly a dozen apparently coordinated bombs and a shooting in cities across Iraq killed at least 32 and wounded dozens today, extending a wave of violence. Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majority areas and were the cause of most of the casualties. The blasts hit half a dozen cities and towns in the south and center of the country, and bore the hallmark of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The blasts began when a parked car bomb went off early morning in the city of Kut, killing three and wounding 14. That was followed by another car bomb outside the city targeted a gathering of construction workers that killed two and wounded 12. Elsewhere:

  • In the oil-rich city of Basra, a car bomb exploded in a busy downtown street. As police and rescuers rushed to the scene, a second car exploded. Six people died.

  • An hour later, two parked car bombs ripped through the southern city of Nasiriyah, killing one and wounding 17.
  • In the town of Mahmoudiya, two civilians were killed and nine wounded when a car bomb went off in an open market.
  • In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, a blast struck a produce market, killing eight and wounding 28.
  • In Madain, a roadside bomb and then a car bomb exploded, killing three and wounding 14.
  • Near Hillah, a car bomb exploded in a parking lot, killing one and wounding nine.
  • In Mosul, gunmen attacked police guarding a remote stretch of an oil pipeline, killing four and wounding five.
  • In the northern city of Tuz Khormato, a roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded another.
(More Iraq stories.)

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