Iraq Election Officials Out on Bail; 13 Killed in Attacks

A judge released two election officials who were detained last week on old corruption charges. Meanwhile, at least 13 Iraqis were killed and 23 more wounded. Three of the attacks had multiple casualties, but most resulted in only one or two victims.

Two election officials detained on old corruption charges were released on bail today. Faraj al-Haidari and Karim al-Tamimi called the arrest a move to pressure the panel. Haidari further claimed that the judge who set their bail found the pair had not violated the law. The arrests received almost universal condemnation.

The body of the deputy major of Suleimaniya was discovered hanged in his jail cell. The family of Zana Hama Saleh insisted that he would not have committed suicide because he said he was awaiting release. No evidence of forced suicide was found. Saleh was detained on corruption charges.

In Kirkuk, a bomb exploded near the university, killing two people and wounding as many as 15 others. Kurdish Asayesh agents and university professors were among the casualties.

Bombs planted around a home in Taji killed three people and wounded one more. A married couple and their five-year-old son were killed when the bombs exploded. Their two-year-old daughter survived. A fifth person was reported wounded.

A blast in Wadi Hajar left one policeman dead and three other people wounded.

A bomb killed the son of a Sahwa leader in Hawija.

In Baghdad, a dentist was killed when a bomb planted on his car exploded.

In Mosul, gunmen killed a Shabak man. Police shot and killed a gunman at a checkpoint.

Gunmen stormed a home in Tuz Khormato where they killed a soldier.

A Saddam-era official was shot and killed in Buhriz.

An elderly woman and her daughter were wounded in a blast in Gatoun.

A police captain lost his leg in a sticky bomb explosion in Tikrit.

Author: Margaret Griffis

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