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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

13 dead in attacks around Baghdad

BAGHDAD—At least 13 people were killed and more than 70 were wounded in a string of explosions that shook the Iraqi capital on Sunday, police said.

Seven of the dead were policemen, police said.

The assault on targets around the Iraqi capital, presumably the work of al-Qaida’s Iraqi affiliate, took place over two hours and employed 12 improvised explosive devices, three car bombs and one suicide attacker.

The attacks again raised the question of whether a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops at the end of 2011 would lead to more extremist violence. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called for a national debate on whether to ask some U.S combat troops remain after Dec. 31.

The biggest attack took place north of Baghdad near the Taji camp when a U.S. military convoy was targeted by a car bomb. It was not immediately known if there were any American casualties.

When Iraqi police patrols arrived at the scene of the explosion, a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up, killing seven policemen and wounding another 10. Police said the number of deaths may increase because of serious injuries to many policemen.

Five of the attacks directly targeted the Iraqi security forces.

The first attack targeted a headquarters of the federal police in the Amil neighborhood, west of Baghdad, when insurgents planted four IEDs and a car bomb.

Two of the attacks targeted the civilians in Sadr city, the stronghold of the supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, and one of the explosions targeted the convoy of a director in the in the interior ministry.

The attacks appeared to be the latest in a series targeting high ranking officers in the interior ministry.

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