The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for yesterday’s coordinated attacks across Iraq. The group, which is linked to al-Qaeda, called it revenge for a "torture and liquidation campaign that Sunni women and men are being subjected to in Baghdad’s prisons and other areas."
Hundreds of Sunnis have been arrested in recent months for allegedly maintaining ties to the now-banned Ba’ath Party. Those detainees have been ferried around Iraq and, in some cases, kept incommunicado. In December, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stepped up the harassment campaign by targeting Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and other top politicians.
Violence was much lighter today. At least three Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded.
In Baghdad, a bomb killed one person and wounded two others in the al-Shurta al-Rabeaa neighborhood.
An I.E.D. killed a soldier and wounded two more in Iskandariya.
A policeman was killed three others were wounded in a blast today in Samarra.
A blast in Mahmoudiya wounded two people.
An I.E.D. wounded a border guard in the Shimal district neighboring Syria.
