Iraq Candidates Targeted; 69 Killed 73 Wounded

At least 69 people were killed in ongoing violence. About half of them were militants. Another 73 civilians and security personnel were wounded. There were at least three attacks on political candidates today, and another attack on campaigners. Elections are at the end of the month.

In Anbar:

Artillery fire in Falluja killed three people and wounded eight more. Earlier, one civilian was killed and three more were wounded in shelling.

Eleven militants were killed during an operation in Ramadi. Another 21 militants were killed in the Humera neighborhood. Militants kidnapped a policeman and two children during a home invasion.

A sticky bomb planted on a car in Qaim wounded a political candidate and his driver.

Elsewhere:

Mukhisa has returned to normal, according to authorities. One suicide bomber was killed before he could cause harm.

In Baghdad, four people were killed and eight more were wounded when two bombs exploded on a Doura district commercial street; later, three more bombs killed five people and wounded 10 others. Three civilians were wounded during a shelling attack in Shoala. A gunman was killed.

Five family members were killed and two more were wounded in an attack as they were driving on a highway near Qalaat Suker.

Two people were killed and five more were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in Tarmiya.

A suicide bomber in Meshahda killed five soldiers and wounded eight more.

In Mosul, a roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded another. Gunmen killed a political candidate; then, a bomb wounded five people who had gathered. A bomb targeting another political candidate killed her bodyguard. A car bomb killed two civilians and wounded 13 others, including soldiers. Two civilians were killed in a blast. Gunmen killed one policeman and wounded another.

A roadside bomb wounded three soldiers in Muqdadiya.

A militant leader was killed in Saidiya.

In Suleimaniya, a policeman was shot and wounded during electioneering.

Author: Margaret Griffis

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