Bloody Monday in Iraq: 15 April 2013

WHILE the US and UK corporate media was awash with stories about the Boston Marathon bomb, in which three people were killed, this is what was happening on one day in Iraq, which the media ignored:  

Not really in the news:

1. At least 75 Iraqis were killed and 356 more were wounded in a series of attacks across the country. Only the far south and Iraqi Kurdistan were spared. Many of the attacks were apparently coordinated and occurred at about the same time this morning. They also came a few days ahead of local elections in most provinces. Nineva and Anbar province, both heavily Sunni, had their elections postponed by the Shi’ite-led government.

2. In Baghdad, the bombings left 30 dead and 92 wounded. Among them, a blast in the Kamaliya neighborhood left four dead and 13 injured; security forces then fired into the air to disperse crowds. Near the airport a pair of bombs killed three people and wounded 16 more. Four people were killed and 15 more were wounded in a bombing at a market and bus station in Umm al-Maalif. In Karrada, another bomb left two dead and 15 injured. A car bomb in Shurta killed two people and wounded nine more. A roadside bomb wounded five policemen in Baladiyat. Two people were killed and nine more were wounded in a blast in Habibiya.

3. In Kirkuk, at least nine people were killed and 79 more were wounded in a string of six car bombings. The downtown bombs exploded in three different ethnic neighborhoods, suggesting that no particular group was targeted. Those explosions took place in Arab, Kurdish, and Turkmen neighborhoods. The other three blasts hit neighborhoods outside of the city. One bombing targeted the home of a Shi’ite politician. Also, gunmen wounded a doctor last night.

4. Explosions in Tuz Khormato left six dead and 67 wounded.

5. In Mosul, gunmen killed a civilian. Two people were wounded in roadside bombings. Gunmen killed a married couple. Security forces killed a bomber. Another blast left no casualties. A soldier was killed in a clash. Three policemen were wounded in a bomb blast.

6. In Falluja, a suicide car bomber killed two policemen and wounded six more at a checkpoint. Acivilian was shot dead. A sticky bomb killed two civilians. Another bomb south of the city left no casualties.

7. A car bomb in Mussayab killed four people and wounded 13 more.

8. Four people were killed and three more were wounded in a Tikrit bombing at political office. Another bombing left 13 policemen wounded.

9. In Nasariya, a car bomb killed two people and wounded 14 more.

10. A policeman was killed in Buhriz when a sticky bomb exploded.

11. Near Ramadi, a bomb targeting a Sunni cleric and leader of anti-government protests killed two bodyguards and wounded at least one more. His cousin was killed in a sticky bomb blast in Falluja.

12. A policeman was shot dead in Tarmiya.

13. A bomb in Khalis killed one child and wounded eight more.

14. Nineteen people were wounded in bombings in Babil province.

15. In Dowr, 13 people were wounded in a blast there.

16. Bombs wounded seven people at a political candidate’s home in Salah ad Din province.

17. In Muqdadiya, a car bomb wounded seven people.

18. In Tal Abta, a blast killed a policeman and wounded two more.

19. In Baquba, two policemen were wounded during a bombing. Three people were wounded in a blast.

20. Gunmen in Sabeen killed a captain and wounded two soldiers.

21. A young man was gunned down in Shirqat.

22. On a rural road in Bani Saad, a bomb wounded a civilian.
Also in this edition of the weekly update, reflections on the Muslim Brotherhood's declining support from some states and groups, the implications for Khalid Meshaal and Hamas of being 'embedded' with the Emir of Qatar, and what Sergei Lavrov thinks of the 'Friends of Syria' who met in Istanbul yesterday..

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