At least 78 people were killed and 123 were wounded today across Iraq. Baghdad was subjected to bombings again, while Anbar suffered from shelling and clashes. Scattered violence occurred elsewhere.
Officials at the North Oil Company have no faith that a very important oil pipeline will be functioning sometime next week as promised. The Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline normally carries oil for the foreign markets to Turkey, but it has been inoperative since March 2 when militants began a sustained attack on it. Usually, repairs made to the pipeline take only hours or days, but the surge of militants in northern Iraq has kept repair crews away from the pipeline at this time.
Heavy fighting on the Syrian side of the border near Qaim forced Iraqi troops to raise blast walls and sand berms for their own protection. The rebels may be seeking control of oil resources.
Anbar:
In Ramadi, a clash left four gunmen dead and two policemen wounded after policemen stumbled across a hideout during a routine search. At least two more militants were killed. A policeman was shot dead. Shelling displaced a number of families.
Artillery fire killed six people and wounded 24 more across Falluja. A school was damaged. Clashes left nine militants dead and 11 hurt.
A roadside bomb in Abu Ghraib killed one soldier and wounded three others.
Five militants were killed and two more wounded in Jighaifi.
Clashes took place in Alsger and Garma.
Elsewhere:
An evening bomb in Sadr City killed 11 and wounded 21 more.
In Baghdad, seven people were killed and 39 more were wounded in a blast in Amin. A bomb in the Amin II neighborhood killed two people and wounded 10 more. Gunmen killed a civilian in Sabi al-Bour.
In Mosul, gunmen killed female teacher. Gunmen killed two policemen. Two more policemen were gunned down separately. An I.E.D. killed an FPS patrolman and wounded three others. Gunmen killed two civilians.
Militants in Boudjah killed eight people and set their homes and a mosque on fire.
In Yathrib, a roadside bomb killed a farmer and three children.
The bodies of two women and a child were discovered in a rural area of Hamza al-Gharbi.
Gunmen killed a policeman and wounded three more in Saniya.
One soldier was killed and two more were wounded in a blast in Ain al-Gahesh.
A civilian was killed and his wife was wounded in a shooting in Udhaim.
In Hamrin, gunmen killed a policeman.
A policeman was beheaded during a home invasion in Dour.
In Baquba, gunmen killed an army captain.
In Tikrit, gunmen wounded three relatives of the former dean of the University of Tikrit as they were posting election leaflets.
