BAGHDAD: Two days of violence in Iraq killed 31 people, police and doctors said yesterday, the latest in a wave of unrest in which more than 190 people have died in just eight days.
Iraq has been hit by a surge in violence that has killed upwards of 2,400 people this year, which analysts link to widespread discontent among minority Sunnis who accuse Shia authorities of marginalising and targeting their community.
Anger among Sunnis gives militant groups increased room to manoeuvre, boosts recruitment and feeds motivation for more attacks, analysts say.
Yesterday’s deadliest violence was in the north, where a car bomb south of the city of Mosul killed six people, including three children, and wounded eight. Gunmen in Mosul also shot dead Qahtan Sami, the spokesman of the Nineveh governorate, while a car bomb killed one person and wounded four in the city. In Madain, south of Baghdad, a bomb exploded near a football field inside a sports club, killing at least five people. AFP
