BAGHDAD: Militants killed 25 Iraqi security forces in a wave of attacks yesterday, and 15 other people died in other attacks including 10 mourners in twin bombings, officials said.
The latest attacks come as Iraq witnesses a surge in violence that has killed more than 2,500 people already this year, including over 240 so far this month.
Analysts point to widespread discontent among Iraq’s minority Sunni community, and the failure of the Shia authorities to address their grievances, as the main factors driving the increase in violence.
In the single deadliest attack, gunmen shot dead 14 members of the Iraqi security forces, including 11 charged with protecting the country’s vital oil infrastructure, on the road between Haditha and Baiji, northwest of the Iraqi capital.
In another bloody attack, a car bomb ripped through a funeral tent where family members of a Shia man were receiving condolences in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, and a suicide bomber detonated explosives when emergency personnel arrived.
The blasts killed a total of 10 people and wounded 22.
Sunni militants including those linked to Al Qaeda frequently target members of Iraq’s Shia majority, whom they regard as apostates. Iraq was plagued by sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands of people in past years, and there are persistent fears that tensions will again boil over into all-out conflict. AFP
