Updated at 10:20 p.m. EDT, Nov. 25, 2009
Just days before the start of the Eid al-Adha observances, at least 20 Iraqis were killed and 52 more were wounded. The most significant attack occurred in the holy city of Karbala.
At a inquiry in the United Kingdom, William Ehrman, who is the former director of international security at Britain’s Foreign Office, revealed that Iraq was not a main security worry during his tenure from 2000 to 2002.
A double bombing in Karbala killed as many as 13 people and wounded 38 others. The first blast struck at a restaurant. A suicide bomber then targeted a crowd of onlookers and first responders. The location was near a command center and the Imam Hussein shrine. Later, the police chief said that only seven people had been injured. Confusion is the often source of conflicting casualty figures, but some security officials prefer to understate casualties for political reasons.
Six people were killed during a home invasion in Tarmiya. The reason for the attack is unknown. The dead included a married couple, two of their daughters and two of the husband’s brothers. Other children were left unharmed. The men were dressed in military uniforms, raising concerns of renewed sectarian violence among the nation’s armed forces. A similar overnight attack that occurred recently in Abu Ghraib was blamed on local security officials. Explosives were also left at the scene.
In Baghdad, a sticky bomb left on a policeman’s car in the Ur neighborhood instead wounded a bystander when it exploded. A blast targeting a Shabb-area liquor store wounded two people. Four people were wounded during a bomb attack in Karrada.
Three policemen were wounded near Imam Weis when they came across a roadside bomb.
A roadside bomb in Hadbaa wounded three people.
A sticky bomb attached to a Kirkuk policeman’s car wounded him.
In Mosul, a bomb left in a cart left no casualties.
A suspected Islamic State of Iraq member was arrested in Hawija.
Twelve suspects were arrested across Basra province.
Fifteen detainees were released in Tal Afar after investigations proved them innocent of crimes.
