The Pentagon has sent a team to Iraq to assess the situation in Iraq. The U.S. military appears keen to help Iraq counter the Sunni extremists. Today, at least 85 Iraqis were killed and 108 more were wounded. Many of them were killed at a political rally in Baghdad. Elections take place next week, except in Anbar where the situation is too volatile.
In Anbar:
Clashes broke out in Ramadi, but the number of casualties is unknown. Mortars and Katyusha rockets struck an army base. A clash left four soldiers dead and two wounded; nine militants were also killed.
In Falluja, six militants were killed and six more were wounded in artillery fire. Four civilians were wounded in a shelling attack. Shelling continued later. At least 18 more militants were killed.
A roadside bomb wounded a council member in Rutba.
Three gunmen were killed near Qaim.
Elsewhere:
In Baghdad, three bombs killed 33 people at a political rally held by the Shi’ite militant group Asaib Ahl al-Haq in the Industrial Stadium. At least one suicide bomber was involved, and 90 other spectators were wounded. Also, guards fired their guns in the air after the attack.
A militant-linked website claimed the attack was in revenge for killing and displacing Sunnis. It did not help to have one speaker tying some Sunni politicians to terrorism. The group has also sent fighters to support Assad in Syria and is apparently planning to do the same in Anbar province.
In Basra, a senior Sunni politician was killed in what may have been a revenge attack.
A police major and three bodyguards were shot dead at a polling station in al-Hay.
A bomb in Dibis wounded two soldiers. A suicide bomber managed to only kill himself.
A roadside bomb killed one civilian and wounded another in Hamrin.
Gunmen attack the home of a senior judge in Zab, where they wounded him.
Four militants were killed and one more was wounded in a clash in Teli Ttasah.
