At least nine Iraqis were killed and 43 were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner met with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a surprise visit to Baghdad. Also, with a U.S. military withdrawal looming, remaining U.S. diplomats are wondering about their future safety.
Police fired on protesters in Suleimaniya, where near daily protests have vexed Kurdish authorities for weeks. At least 35 were wounded in the attack. Seven of the victims received gunshot wounds. Another 28 were hospitalized due to tear gas inhalation or were wounded during rock throwing. Two journalists were among the injured.
In Baghdad, gunmen stormed a home where they killed four people, including two teenagers; three victims were women. A policeman’s body was found in Shabb. A blast in Tunis wounded a civilian. Overnight in Mansour, a sticky bomb killed an employee of the security ministry and wounded four people, two of them family. A bombing in Shula wounded a government employee.
A bomb in Kirkuk killed a businessman. A civilian was killed in another blast. A roadside bomb wounded a medical employee.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a policeman at a checkpoint.
A bomb wounded a policeman in Ramadi. The provincial traffic director escaped a separate assassination attempt.
At Camp Ashraf, residents were prohibited from burying the victims of an Iraqi raid. They were told to instead bury the corpses elsewhere within the camp. Iraqi authorities had at first denied that any members of the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, who live at the camp, had been killed, but independent observers confirmed 34 deaths. The United Nations called for a probe into the massacre.
Syrian authorities seized weapons that were being smuggled into the country from Iraq.
Prison authorities released 100 juveniles.
