Attacks targeting Shi’ite worshippers during Friday prayers left an astonishing number of casualties today. At least 33 Iraqis were killed and 165 more were wounded in the violence. A bombing in Kirkuk occurred at about the same time as several in Baghdad, implying that the multi-city attacks were coordinated. Massive demonstrations also took place in Sunni-areas of northern and western Iraq.
In Baghdad, seven worshippers were killed and 25 more were wounded when a bomb went off in the Jihad neighborhood. Another bomb, this one in Qahira, left four dead and 20 wounded. In Binouk, five people were killed and fourteen more were wounded in another blast. Three people were killed and 15 more were wounded in the Zaafaraniya district. Ten people were wounded in a blast in Talibiya. Security forces threatened to arrest reporters attempting to photograph the scenes.
A possible suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Kirkuk where he killed seven people and wounded about 71 more. The blast knocked the roof onto the worshippers. Separately, a construction worker was killed and two soldiers were wounded in three shootings.
A roadside bomb targeting a joint patrol in Muqdadiya killed two security personnel and wounded another seven.
In Kut, gunmen killed two schoolteachers who were preparing to protest against their local education board.
Gunmen killed a counter-terrorism officer as he left his Tikrit home to go to work. A policeman was seriously wounded when a protest turned into a riot; a curfew is now in effect.
In Mosul, two bombs were discovered and defused before they could explode.
