BAGHDAD: Attacks killed 16 people in Iraq yesterday, officials said, as the cabinet discussed how to curb violence that has left over 500 dead this month and raised fears of all-out sectarian conflict.
The UN envoy to Iraq meanwhile urged the country’s feuding leaders to meet to resolve long-running political crises that have paralysed the government and been blamed for its inability to reduce the violence.
As of yesterday, 519 people have been killed and over 1,300 wounded in May, making it the deadliest month in at least a year, according to AFP figures based on reports from security and medical sources.
May is the second month in a row in which more than 400 people have been killed, for a total of almost 1,000 dead in less than two months — a toll that continued to mount.
In the deadliest attack, a bomb exploded on a bus in Sadr City, killing five people and wounding at least 26. In Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber driving an explosives-rigged truck killed four people and wounded eight, while gunmen killed two Sahwa anti-Al Qaeda militiamen and wounded two more near Tikrit.
And four police died in clashes in Mosul, while a bombing near the northern city killed senior police intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel Faris al-Rashidi and wounded three other police.
AFP
