Bombings and Shootings in Iraq Leave 22 Dead
A series of bombings in central Iraq and two shootings in the country's north left 22 dead on Thursday, adding to the death toll in what has been the deadliest year in the country since 2008. A dozen bombs exploded in central Iraq, including four car bombs in Baghdad that killed 11 and wounded 47, AFP reports. Four bombs exploded south of Baghdad and a car bomb targeted checkpoints in and around Baquba, just north of the capital, leaving nearly a dozen people dead. Meanwhile, two police officers were killed in shootings in the northern city of Mosul. The wave of violence came after 21 people were killed in and around Baghdad on Wednesday from 10 bombings and three shootings. More than 1,800 people have been killed so far this year in Iraq, according to an AFP tally, including more than 700 in February alone. The majority of attacks have targeted Baghdad and the surrounding cities, but the Iraqi government is still battling anti-government militants in the western Anbar Province. More than 300,000 people have fled violence in Anbar, according to United Nations figures, the largest displacement of people in Iraq since the height of the sectarian civil war in 2006-2008. AFP