Insurgents killed nine Iraqi soldiers yesterday in a town north of Baghdad -- seven of them in an armed assault on a checkpoint and two others in a car bombing more than an hour later, Iraqi officials said.
The attacks came a day after a surge in violence -- including suicide bombings and ambushes -- killed at least 60 people across the country, shattering a relative lull for the previous week.
Yesterday's first attack occurred about 5am when gunmen firing mortars, machine guns and semiautomatic weapons stormed a checkpoint in Khalis, northeast of Baghdad. Seven soldiers were killed., and three injured.
PHOTO: AP
At 6:30am, a car bomb parked alongside a road exploded as an Iraqi army patrol passed, killing two soldiers and wounding another.
The deadliest bombing Sunday hit an army recruiting center at Muthana airfield in central Baghdad when a man dressed in civilian clothes detonated two explosive-laden belts among a crowd of recruits, killing 25 others and wounding nearly 50. Most of the dead were believed to have been recruits.
It was the bloodiest attack in the capital since July 2 when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a recruiting center in west Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood, killing 20.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack.
In other violence Sunday, a Shiite mother and eight of her children were found shot dead in their beds Sunday in Baghdad. One boy survived. The father, who was not at home at the time, blamed the killings on sectarian hatred.
Also on Sunday, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari criticized US and multinational forces for shooting at Iraqi civilians who act suspiciously near patrols or military areas; the US blamed the problem on the growing use of suicide car bombs as an insurgent weapon.
"Terrorists, through use of suicide [vehicles], have caused this predicament," said Lieutenant Colonel Steven Boylan. "They have affected the normal level of trust that people have for one another and have made it difficult to distinguish between normal traffic and a grave potential threat."
Al-Jaafari said that such cases should be handled in a "civilized" way, such as shooting at tires instead of passengers.
Suicide bombers struck elsewhere across the country Sunday. At the Walid border crossing into Syria, two suicide car bombers killed at least seven Iraqi customs officials.
Also, near the northern city of Mosul, a suicide car bomber rammed into a police convoy carrying an Iraqi brigadier general, killing five policemen.
A suicide car bomb in Kirkuk killed at least four civilians Sunday, according to police. A second car bomb was rigged to explode as rescuers rushed to the scene, but it was found and detonated by US troops.
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
RSS