Across Iraq, a series of coordinated attacks shattered the relative peace seen in recent days. Many of the casualties were Shi’ite pilgrims, who are commemorating the death of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of the Prophet Muhammad’s successors and great grandson. Several attacks against Shi’ites earlier in the week foreshadowed today’s bloodshed. The observances culminate on Saturday, but the violence could continue as pilgrims return home.
Security personnel also suffered massive casualties and, in the north, Kurdish targets were attacked. A journalist was wounded in one of the bombings in Kirkuk. Conflicting figures are not unusual after so many significant bombings, but about 107 Iraqis were killed and 384 more were wounded.
In Baghdad, a car bomb in the Kadhimiya neighborhood killed seven people and wounded 20 others; Kadhimiya is where Imam Kadhim’s burial place and shrine is. A bomb at a commercial compound killed nine people and wounded 21 more. Sixteen people were killed and 32 more wounded in a blast near dining tents in Karrada. Gunmen killed three policemen in two attacks in Saidiya. One person was killed and ten more were wounded in a blast in Grei’at.
At least 22 people were killed and 38 more were wounded when two car bombs blew up in near a restaurant in downtown Hilla
Car bombs in Karbala and nearby Hindiya killed three people and wounded 24 others.
Five people were killed and 18 others were wounded in a bombing in Madaen.
A car bomb killed two people and wounded seven more in Nahrawan.
A bomb in Aziziya wounded 14 people.
In Balad, five people were killed and 30 others were wounded in two separate blasts; at least one bomb targeted a Shi’ite Endowment office.
Three security personnel were killed and 11 more were wounded in a series of attacks against police and military in Abu Ghraib.
Gunmen or roadside bomb attacks against Falluja police left two dead and 10 wounded. Eight people were wounded in a blast at a soldier’s home. Three people were killed and 12 more were wounded in blasts at policemen’s home.
In Baquba, a blast at a civil defense center left at least 37 people wounded, many of them security personnel.
A suicide bomber killed two people and wounded seven in Juba.
A bombing in Asamlla left two policemen dead and one injured.
A civilian was killed and four relatives were wounded when gunmen attacked their Sada home.
Gunmen killed an army soldier and wounded three Sahwa when they attacked a checkpoint in Jazeera.
I.E.D.s in Moalameen left one dead and two wounded.
At least one person was killed and 11 were wounded in unidentified attacks in Diyala province.
In Kirkuk, attacks against Kurdish and security targets left one civilian dead and 28 others wounded.
Kurdish targets were also attacked in Ninewa where five people were killed and 12 more were wounded. In at least one attack, a child was killed. At least one more person was reported killed.
A soldier was killed and another was wounded west of Mosul.
Ten were killed and at least 11 more were wounded in a pair of blasts in Basra, but the exact number of wounded was not reported.
A blast in Taji also wounded dozens.
No casualties were reported in a shootout at a Saidiya checkpoint. A mortar attack also left no casualties.
