A roadside bomb blast yesterday at Baghdad's largest and oldest wholesale market district killed at least 24 people and injured 35, adding to the violence in Iraq that claimed 52 people, police said.
In a separate incident in Baghdad, a senior official with the justice ministry, Nadiya Mohammed Hassan, was shot and killed in a drive-by-shooting, according to First Lieutenant Maitham Abdul-Razaq of the police. Her bodyguard and driver also died in the shooting that occurred in the western part of the city.
The market blast occurred at 9:50am at the Shurja commercial center, Police Lieutenant Mohammed Khayoun said.
Earlier, an explosives-rigged bicycle detonated near an army recruiting center in a city south of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 38, police said.
In downtown Baghdad, three police officers were killed and 14 people were injured when twin bombs -- including one planted in a car -- struck a police patrol as it drove by a line of vehicles waiting in a line for gasoline at a filling station.
Also in Baghdad, three carpet merchants who were driving in a taxi on their way to work were shot and killed in west Baghdad, Abdul-Razaq said.
In Buhriz, a former Saddam stronghold about 60km north of Baghdad, a roadside bomb struck a car carrying a family of five, killing everyone inside and wounding two people who were walking nearby, according to Diyala Province police.
In the outskirts of Kut, about 160km southeast of Baghdad, an Iraqi army major was killed when his car rolled over a roadside bomb, according to an official from the Kut morgue.
The morgue also received five corpses who had been brought from the town of Suwayra, 40km south of Baghdad; a Kut morgue official said the bodies were brought in blindfolded, their hands and legs had been bound, and their bodies were riddled with bullets.
A civilian driving in his car in Mosul, 360km northwest of Baghdad, was apparently shot and killed by US troops who opened fire when the man's vehicle came too close to them, Iraqi Police Brigadier Saed Ahmed al-Jubouri said.
In a separate incident in Mosul, four civilians were wounded after being caught in the middle of a gunfight between Iraqi police and a group of gunmen.
In central Hillah, about 95km south of Baghdad, a man posing as a potential army recruit planted the explosives-rigged bicycle early in the morning outside the recruiting center, Police Lieutenant Osama Ahmed said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source