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.
An endangered baby pygmy hippopotamus that shot to social media stardom in Thailand has become a lucrative source of income for her home zoo, quadrupling its ticket sales, the institution said Thursday. Moo Deng, whose name in Thai means “bouncy pork,” has drawn tens of thousands of visitors to Khao Kheow Open Zoo this month. The two-month-old pygmy hippo went viral on TikTok and Instagram for her cheeky antics, inspiring merchandise, memes and even craft tutorials on how to make crocheted or cake-based Moo Dengs at home. A zoo spokesperson said that ticket sales from the start of September to Wednesday reached almost
‘BARBAROUS ACTS’: The captain of the fishing vessel said that people in checkered clothes beat them with iron bars and that he fell unconscious for about an hour Ten Vietnamese fishers were violently robbed in the South China Sea, state media reported yesterday, with an official saying the attackers came from Chinese-flagged vessels. The men were reportedly beaten with iron bars and robbed of thousands of dollars of fish and equipment on Sunday off the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), which Taiwan claims, as do Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. Vietnamese media did not identify the nationalities of the attackers, but Phung Ba Vuong, an official in central Quang Ngai province, told reporters: “They were Chinese, [the boats had] Chinese flags.” Four of the 10-man Vietnamese crew were rushed
CHINESE ICBM: The missile landed near the EEZ of French Polynesia, much to the surprise and concern of the president, who sent a letter of protest to Beijing Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere called for “respect for our region” and a stop to missile tests in the Pacific Ocean, after China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). In a speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday, Katonivere recalled the Pacific Ocean’s history as a nuclear weapons testing ground, and noted Wednesday’s rare launch by China of an ICBM. “There was a unilateral test firing of a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. We urge respect for our region and call for cessation of such action,” he said. The ICBM, carrying a dummy warhead, was launched by the
As violence between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, Iran is walking a tightrope by supporting Hezbollah without being dragged into a full-blown conflict and playing into its enemy’s hands. With a focus on easing its isolation and reviving its battered economy, Iran is aware that war could complicate efforts to secure relief from crippling sanctions. Cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7 last year, has intensified, especially after last week’s sabotage on Hezbollah’s communications that killed 39 people. Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon followed, killing hundreds. Hezbollah retaliated with rocket barrages. Despite the surge in
RSS