Updated at 9:01 p.m. EDT, July, 20, 2010
As the British inquiry into the Iraq war revealed new insights into the internal machinations behind the invasion, violence soldiered on in Iraq. At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 38 more wounded in various attacks. Five Iranians also died and five more were wounded in an attack on pilgrims. More casualties also resulted from the guerilla war between Turkey and PKK rebels. Meanwhile, a meeting between Ayad Allawi and Nouri al-Maliki, leading contenders to be the next prime minister, did not end in success.
The former head of Britain’s M15 spy agency, Eliza Manningham-Buller, testified at the (Chilcot) Iraq war inquiry that there was no credible evidence linking Iraq to the 9/11 attacks, but elements in the U.S. government, particularly then-U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, created alternative intelligence to spur on the war. She added that the war subsequently "radicalized" British youths and actually raised the threat of terror in Great Britain. The threat of blowback was eventually realized in the 7/7 bombings. British operations ended in Iraq last year, but soldiers remain in Afghanistan, where Prime Minister David Cameron and his predecessor Gordon Brown insist the troops help reduce the potential of attacks in the United Kingdom.
A blast at a popular market in a Turkman area of Qurat Tabba left eight dead and 22 wounded.
Five Iranian pilgrims were killed and five others were wounded when they encountered a bomb on a highway near Kasrien. Two Iraqis were also killed, and three more Iraqis were wounded.
Three policemen were wounded in a blast near Kirkuk.
A blast in Zap wounded a soldier.
In Basra, a roadside bomb wounded three soldiers.
A suspect killed himself during a clash with police in Suleimaniyah.
In Baghdad, no casualties were reported after a blast on Haifa Street. Also, a government spokesman promised an investigation into an unauthorized raid on the Iraqi Football Association by unknown uniformed men.
In Mosul, a man was killed as the bomb he was allegedly planting exploded. A tossed hand grenade wounded six people.
No casualties were reported after a blast targeting a Sahwa leader took place in Radwaniya.
A sticky bomb exploded in Amiriya after the driver walked away from the car.
Tal Afar is on high alert after security forces received intelligence that two suicide bombers, one female and one in military uniform, are planning attacks.
A bomb was defused under a mobile phone tower in Tuz Khormato.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels claimed to have killed more than two dozen Turkish soldiers during separate attacks in Turkey. Ankara admitted to only seven deaths. Independent confirmation is difficult to come by in the sparsely populated border areas, and both sides have been known to exaggerate claims.
