Above: Iraq’s Foreign Minister addresses the wave of sectarian violence that has gripped the country since the start of the year.
BAGHDAD – Bombs and a shooting targeted a marketplace and off-duty policemen in Iraq on Saturday, killing at least eleven people in the latest attacks by militants seeking to destabilize the country.
Iraq has been experiencing one of its deadliest waves of violence, raising fears that the country is heading toward a new round of sectarian conflict like that which pushed it to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.
Police officials said the first bombing took place near an outdoor market in the morning in the capital’s western suburb of Abu Ghraib, killing four people and wounding 12 others.
Also, police said attackers using guns fitted with silencers killed three off-duty policemen in a drive-by shooting near Fallujah, 65 kilometres (40 miles) west of Baghdad.
At night, a bomb went off at a cafe in the Fadhil area of downtown Baghdad as soccer fans were watching a match, killing four people and wounding 17 others, Baghdad police said.
Dozens of soccer fans in Iraq have been killed during the past few days in attacks on cafes and a soccer field.
Health officials confirmed the casualties. All spoke anonymously because they were not allowed to brief reporters.
Read more: United Nations says more than 1,000 killed in Iraq in May, highest monthly death toll in years
Comments