Updated at 8:49 p.m. EDT, Apr. 30. 2010
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in the latest violence. Also, a U.S. soldier was wounded in a blast in Adhamiya yesterday. Meanwhile, the prime minister criticized the use of international help to end an impasse created by a near dead heat in last month’s parliamentary elections.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki discounted calls for foreign intervention in the formation of the new government, claiming that such efforts would harm Iraq’s sovereignty and were only an attempt to remove him from power. Ayad Allawi, whose Iraqiya party won the most seats in last month’s elections asked for international help to prevent ballot manipulation and candidate disqualifications, which Allawi claims are an attempt by Maliki to falsely retain power. Maliki’s foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, welcomed U.N. help, while Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani blamed all political blocs for not working to form the government quickly.
Three people were killed and 10 more were wounded, including a bomber, during a blast at a Garma marketplace. A second bomb was defused. Two suspects were detained.
In Fallujah, two men were killed when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely; another man was captured, while a fourth escaped.
A roadside bomb in Hit yesterday, killed one soldier and wounded another.
A gunman was wounded when the bomb he was planting in Kirkuk exploded prematurely.
Gunmen tossed a grenade at a U.S. patrol in Hawija, but the subsequent blast wounded an Iraqi civilian. Police located the remains of a gunman who died on Tuesday, when the bomb he was trying to plant exploded prematurely.
In Mosul, no casualties were reported after mortars landed near a police station. a bomb was defused. An I.E.D. explosion killed a police captain.
Tal Afar police have implemented a plan to secure the harvesting of crops.
Ten suspects were picked-up in Basra province
