Attacks in southern Iraq continued today. At least eight people were killed and about 81 more were wounded there and across the country. The south has been relatively more peaceful than other areas of Iraq because the predominantly Shi’ite population is content with the change in power that favored them.
In Sunni regions and neighborhoods, demonstrations against the government resumed, as they have each prayer day for weeks. At one protest Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi told the crowed that he had resigned his post. The arrests of the minister’s bodyguards in December triggered these protests. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that the minister’s resignation would not be accepted until investigations into alleged violations have been completed. Issawi is the highest-ranking Sunni official currently in government.
A pair of bomb blasts at a livestock market in Diwaniya left six dead and as many as 70 wounded.
One person was killed and five more were wounded when two roadside bombs exploded near Dujail.
In Mosul, a sticky bomb killed a soldier. Two soldiers and two policemen were wounded in another two explosions.
Two separate bombs in Mussayab left two people with injuries.
