Fresh attacks across Iraq
May 21, 2013
Several bomb blasts killed at least eight people in Iraq on Tuesday, police said.
Three roadside bombs exploded near a livestock market in the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, which is 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, killing two people.
Seperately a suicide bomber hit a military checkpoint, and then militants opened fire at the Iraqi troops, in the town of Tarmiyah, 50 kilometers north of Baghdad, killing at least three soldiers.
In the northern city of Tuz Khormato, two parked car bombs went off simultaneously, killing three and wounding dozens, city mayor Shalal Abdool reported. The town is about 200 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital (pictured above).
The bombings came a day after attacks killed more than 70 people across the country. A recent wave of violence in Iraq has killed about 370 people this month, according to a tally of figures given by officials.
Sectarian fault lines
Iraq has seen a rise in the number of retaliatory attacks between Sunni and Shiite groups, prompting fear of a return to the level of bloodshed that the country faced in 2006 and 2007.
Sunni demonstrators have been protesting since December, calling for the release of Sunni detainees and the repeal of laws introduced by the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that they believe are discriminatory.
The violence has overshadowed the run-up to and completion of elections that took place on Saturday. At least 14 candidates were reported to have been murdered in the weeks leading up to the poll.
As a result, Prime Minister al-Maliki has announced plans to overhaul the country's security strategy, which is set to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
hc/ccp (Reuters, AP AFP, dpa)