Updated at 8:22 p.m. EDT, Sept. 19, 2010
An unusually quiet Saturday was followed by a very bloody Sunday in which at least 56 Iraqis were killed and 171 more were wounded. Baghdad again received most of the violence, for which a member of the Iraqi National Alliance blamed al-Qaeda and the political vacuum. Underscoring the unreliability of news accounts from Iraq since many international reporters left, a couple of the attacks that occurred yesterday went unreported until today and Mosul saw very little violence.
In Baghdad, 21 people were killed and 70 others were wounded in a suicide car bombing in Aden Square. At least one of the two bombs reported was on a minibus and appeared to target a police station. About the same time, a car bomb killed 19 Iraqis and wounded 58 more as it demolished an Asiacell building in Mansour. Guards fired shots into the air following the explosion.
Also in Baghdad, three civilians were wounded in a blast in Ridwaniya that may have targeted an electricity ministry official. A roadside bomb in Shula killed two minibus passengers. No casualties were reported after mortars fell on the Green Zone, but three people were wounded in a strike at the adjacent Babel Hotel. A senior intelligence officer was wounded in a sticky bomb blast in Salhiya. And yesterday, a bomb in Ghazaliya killed two people and wounded four others, while three Iraqis were wounded at the al-Nahda garage. A third blast left no casualties.
In Fallujah at least six people were killed and 14 were wounded when a car bomb targeting a military patrol exploded near the Dayf al-Rahman bridge. On al-Hammam Street, a man was killed as the bomb he was handling exploded prematurely; five bystanders were wounded.
A sticky bomb explosion in Hamdaniya killed a chieftain and wounded a companion from the al-Bu Ulwan clan. Saleh Ali al-Allwani was also an employee in the foreign ministry. Two bystanders were also killed and four others were wounded in the attack. The clan is demanding an investigation. A spokesperson for the clan blamed “Iran, the United States and Zionism” for the murder.
In Mosul, one policeman was killed in a roadside bombing. Another bomb wounded a second policeman. A man and his son were wounded in yet another blast. An explosion on a railway wounded two drivers. Few reports of attacks have come out of Mosul since the end of Ramadan. While this could be a fortuitous change for the city, it is unlikely that violence has decreased so dramatically. Mosul is still considered dangerous by many. Als , there is evidence that al-Qaeda groups may simply be changing tactics from terror to extortion.
A Saudi national was arrested in Wassit province for entering Iraq illegally.
