Updated at 5:17 p.m. EST, Nov. 1, 2009
Today’s attacks were focused on cities just south and west of the capital. Although at first glance the bombings look to be the work of Sunni extremists, internecine Shi’ite rivalries should not be ruled out as the source of some violence. Overall, as many as 25 Iraqis were killed and 75 more were wounded in the latest reports. Meanwhile, the elections law impasse threatens to delay the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. At the heart of the problem is the status of multi-ethnic Kirkuk.
A bicycle rigged with explosives was detonated at a Mussayab market, where it killed nine people and wounded 38 more.
A bomb in nearby Jibla wounded eight more.
As many as five people were killed and 15 were wounded when a bomb left on a bus exploded as the vehicle approached a checkpoint in Karbala.
In Ramadi, a suicide bomber killed three people and wounded five others during an attack on a checkpoint at an entrance to the city. A pair of blasts located inside a garage at a police directorate killed two people and wounded five others. Also, mortars struck a U.S. base, but no casualties were reported.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a civil employee. A car bomb targeting an Iraqi patrol wounded two bystanders instead; police later found two charred bodies inside the vehicle. Gunmen killed a lawyer.
Two men were wounded as they were allegedly planting a bomb near Saidiya.
A body was found near Jalawla. Iraqi troops captured six suspects.
Four suspects were arrested in Numaniya.
A Jaysh al-Rashideen suspect was captured in Kirkuk. South of the city, 37 mortar shells were confiscated. A 13-year-old girl was kidnapped.
An al-Qaeda suspect was captured in Tikrit.
The Turkish military responded to a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) attack with overnight air and artillery attacks. Six Turkish soldiers died when a force of 150-200 rebels allegedly entered Turkey and attacked a gendarme station before fleeing back into Iraq on Friday night.
For 25 years, the PKK has waged a guerrilla war in hopes of creating an independent nation for the Kurdish people. Recently however the group began trying new tactics such as a unilateral truce and mass surrenders as part of a broader reconciliation effort. Despite this change and demands from the Iraqi government to stop such raids, Ankara has ignored calls for peace talks. Air raids were conducted all week. Turkey this year began work on a “Kurdish Initiative” which should give Turkish Kurds more rights and perhaps eliminate the desire for a rebel operation.
