9 Iraqis Killed As PKK Takes Credit For Pipeline Blast

At least nine Iraqis were killed and 22 more were wounded in a considerable number of attacks. One Iraqi was kidnapped. Also, the P.K.K. sabotaged an oil pipeline in an effort to hurt neighboring Turkey.

Explosions on an oil pipeline that carries crude from Kirkuk to Turkey stopped the flow. No casualties were reported, but the Kurdistan Workers Party took credit for the attack. Their intent was to harm Turkish interests only, the P.K.K. said. In unrelated activity, gunmen wounded one man. Another man was kidnapped.

A mosque preacher was killed outside his Diwaniya home. He was a follower of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and the latest victim of 18 assassinations in the area since the beginning of the year. Many of the other victims were also Sistani followers.

In Mosul, a policeman and a taxi driver were shot to death. Separately, a soldier and two civilians were killed in blasts. An explosion outside the home of an identification official left no casualties.

One person was killed and two more were wounded when a bomb exploded at a policeman’s home in Falluja.

A bomb in Karbala left one Iraqiya official dead.

In Baquba, a Sahwa member was killed and a bystander was wounded when a bomb planted on his motorbike exploded.

Twelve people were wounded when a bomb exploded in Gatoun.

In Baghdad, two civilians were wounded during an explosion in Ilam. A bomb targeting an official driving in Ghazaliya left no casualties. A blast in front of a hospital in Yarmouk left no casualties.

Three Sahwa members were wounded in a blast in Shirqat.

A sticky bomb wounded a policeman in Ramadi.

No one was hurt when a bomb exploded at a policeman’s home in Iskandariya.

A manager and worker at a Sunni endowment office were arrested on unknown charges in Dhi Qar province.

Author: Margaret Griffis

Margaret Griffis is a journalist from Miami Beach, Florida and has been covering Iraqi casualties for Antiwar.com since 2006.