A wave of deadly bombings strike Baghdad Thursday in another lethal week
in Iraq, and prompting a U.N. official to warn that a wider conflict
could erupt.
FULL STORY
- Iraq at crossroads as bombs explode
- Why are Iraq's Sunnis so upset?
- Are the dark days returning to Iraq?
May 30, 2013 -- Updated 1418 GMT (2218 HKT)
People inspect the site of a blast Thursday in Baghdad, one of many in the recent surge of violence in Iraq.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- At least 10 more killed in Baghdad on Thursday amid rising religious, political tensions
- Nearly 400 people have been killed in acts of violence in May, according to a CNN tally.
- U.N. representative Martin Kobler: "Systemic violence is ready to explode at any moment"
- Kobler: Leaders need to take steps immediately
And violence wasn't
limited to Iraq's capital -- Anbar province's governor escaped the
latest apparent attempt to assassinate him when bombs exploded Thursday
near his convoy in Ramadi and injured four of his bodyguards, police
said.
In Baghdad, a car bomb
exploded Thursday afternoon outside a university, and three car bombs
and a roadside bomb exploded Thursday morning in four neighborhoods,
killing at least 10 people and wounding 41 others, police said.
The deaths come as
political and sectarian violence rises across Iraq, much of it stemming
from discord between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Nearly 400 people have
been killed in acts of violence in May, according to a CNN tally.
And since Monday alone, at least 120 people have been killed.
Martin Kobler, the U.N.
special representative to Iraq, expressed dismay at the recent violence
and condemned the attack against the Anbar governor.
He also warned the situation could worsen if leaders don't take action.
"Systemic violence is
ready to explode at any moment if all Iraqi leaders do not engage
immediately to pull the country out of this mayhem," Kobler said in
Baghdad.
Thursday's violence
included the afternoon car bombing outside a university in southeastern
Baghdad. At least two people were killed and eight others wounded in
that blast, city police officials told CNN. No other details were
immediately available.
Iraqi security forces
are on high alert and have established more checkpoints in and around
the capital, causing massive traffic jams during rush hour.
In central Ramadi, more
than 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Anbar Gov. Qassim
Mohammed Abid was unharmed when car and roadside bombs exploded Thursday
morning near his convoy, Ramadi police officials said.
Abid has survived
several assassination attempts over the years. He lost his left hand in a
suicide attack in the predominantly Sunni province in 2009.
Recent violence in Iraq
comes amid rising Sunni-Shiite tensions. Since December, tens of
thousands of Sunni demonstrators have taken to the streets across the
country, protesting against the Shiite-led government.
Sunni Arabs had more
political clout in Iraq under Saddam Hussein until his ouster in 2003
after a U.S.-led invasion. Under the Shiite-led government in the
post-Saddam era, Sunnis have felt marginalized.
About two-thirds of
Iraq's nearly 32 million people are Shiite, and roughly a third are
Sunni, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Here is a look at Iraq's deadly four-day stretch, according to police officials:
• At least 30 deaths on
Wednesday, with 20 people killed in four bombings in Baghdad, and 10
killed in acts of violence in Mosul.
• At least 23 deaths on Tuesday and more than 80 others hurt in three explosions and three shootings in Baghdad and Mosul.
• At least 57 deaths on Monday and 190 others hurt in a wave of attacks in Baghdad and other cities.
May 30, 2013 -- Updated 1633 GMT (0033 HKT)
A wave of deadly bombings struck Baghdad on Thursday in an already
lethal week in Iraq, prompting a U.N. official to warn the mayhem is
"ready to explode" into a wider conflict. FULL STORY
|
WHAT'S BEHIND THE VIOLENCE?
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