Latest Bomb Attacks In Baghdad Kill 26, Injure 67

[News_Editor]

Latest bomb attacks in Baghdad kill 26, injure 67 < br />

2012-08-01 08:15:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (BNO NEWS) -- Two car bombs exploded in an upscale neighborhood of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad during afternoon rush hour on Tuesday, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 50 others. Blasts in other cities killed four others.

The first attack targeted Andalus Square near a number of restaurants and shops in central Baghdad, killing seven people and injuring 21. Most of the victims at the busy intersection were believed to be passers-by and shop owners, and some of the victims were seriously injured.

The second car bomb went off outside a passport office not far from a building of the Interior Ministry, only minutes after the first attack took place. The powerful explosion, which killed at least fifteen people and injured 35 others, sent thick black smoke billowing from the scene.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Also on Tuesday, one person was killed and nine others were injured when an improvised explosive devices (IEDs) went off in front of a barbershop near the city of Hillah in Babylon province. Two other IEDs exploded when emergency services arrived at the scene, killing two police officers.

In a separate attack, at least two civilians were killed when an IED exploded near construction material shops in Saqlawiyah, located approximately 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of Fallujah, a city in Al Anbar province. Two others were also wounded, and all the victims are believed to have been from the same family.

Tuesday's violence comes just over a week after a coordinated wave of bomb and shooting attacks targeted Shiite Muslims across Iraq, killing at least 109 people and injuring more than 275 others. The string of violent attacks ripped through at least fifteen different cities, among them the capital Baghdad, in six provinces.

On June 13, at least 93 people were killed in another wave of bomb and shooting attacks targeting Shiite Muslims who were marking the anniversary of the death of Imam Musa Kadhim, a great-grandson of the prophet Mohammad and a revered imam. More than 300 others were injured.

Although violence in Iraq has declined dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007, political turmoil and sectarian violence has been on the rise following the pullout of the last U.S. soldiers in mid-December 2011. At least 36 people were killed in mid-April when a series of bomb attacks hit cities and towns across the country.

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