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Back-to-back bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market near a revered Shia Muslim shrine and several shootings targeting government officials have killed at least 17 people.<\/p>\nBack-to-back bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market near a revered Shia Muslim shrine and several shootings targeting government officials have killed at least 17 people.<\/p>\n
The bombings, which happened within about a minute of each other on Saturday, appeared to be aimed at intimidating Iraq’s Shia community, who are a frequent target of Sunni fighters.<\/p>\n
Police said at least 11 people were killed and 35 were wounded in the blasts.<\/p>\n
The blasts struck about 500 metres from a shrine where two revered imams are buried, damaging nearby shops and buildings, according to police, who confirmed the casualty figures.<\/p>\n
The attacks came as many shoppers were out buying new clothes in anticipation of the Eid al-Adha holiday, which begins in about a week.<\/p>\n
“When I came out, I saw burning carts and merchant stalls, and children crying and women screaming out of fear. The whole place was full of panic.”<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, armed men had opened fire on a police patrol in the Shia neighbourhood of al-Shaab, killing two policemen and wounding another.<\/p>\n
Authorities also said assailants shot dead a police lieutenant-colonel who worked with the State Identity Directorate late on Friday in Baghdad’s Karradah district.<\/p>\n
Hospital officials confirmed the deaths in the attacks.<\/p>\n
Checkpoint attacked<\/strong> Assailants also shot and killed a prison official in a drive-by-shooting during the morning rush hour in eastern Baghdad, Haider al-Saadi, just ministry spokesman, said.<\/p>\n Violence has ebbed in Iraq since the peak of the bloodletting in 2005-2008, but fighters still frequently attack predominantly Shia Muslim areas, government officials and security forces in an attempt to undermine the Shia-led government.<\/p>\n Saturday’s attacks marked Iraq’s deadliest day since September 30, when a string of coordinated blasts that hit Shia neighborhoods and struck at Iraqi security forces left at least 26 dead.<\/p>\n Source: Aljazeera.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Back-to-back bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market near a revered Shia Muslim shrine and several shootings targeting government officials have killed at least 17 people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, armed men attacked a police checkpoint and killed three officers, according to two police officials.<\/p>\n