17 killed, MP wounded in Iraq attacks
Baghdad, Nov 28: At least 17 people were killed and more than 50 wounded, among them an Iraqi member of parliament, on Monday in a wave of bloody attacks mainly in and around Baghdad, security officials and an MP said.
In the deadliest attack, a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle near the main entrance of Hout prison in Taji north of Baghdad at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT), as family members gathered to visit inmates.
An interior ministry official said 13 people were killed and 28 wounded by the blast, while a defence ministry official put the toll at 12 dead and 26 wounded.
Justice ministry spokesman Haidar al-Saadi said six of the dead in Taji were police working under the ministry who were on their way to work at the prison.
The bomber "blew himself up on the highway near the prison, where family members of prisoners were gathering" before a visit, Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta said.
Later,
an
Iraqi
member
of
parliament
was
wounded
and
two
other
people
killed
in
an
explosion,
the
cause
of
which
was
disputed,
near
parliament.
The
blast
was
alternatively
said
to
have
been
from
a
mortar
shell,
a
suicide
bomber,
and
a
magnetic
"sticky
bomb."
"A mortar round landed near parliament's car park. One colleague, (MP) Muayid al-Tayyeb, was wounded," MP Ali al-Shila told AFP.
The interior ministry official said that two people were killed and seven wounded by a mortar round, while the defence ministry official said three people were killed and four wounded by an explosion in a parliament parking area, but that "it is not clear if it was a car bomb or a mortar shell."
It
was
not
clear
if
the
MP
was
included
in
the
number
of
wounded
given
by
the
security
officials.
Differing
tolls
are
common
in
the
confusion
following
attacks
in
Iraq.
"What
happened
today
was
a
suicide
operation
against
members
of
parliament
while
they
were
leaving
parliament,"
a
high-ranking
security
official
said
on
condition
of
anonymity.
That
account
was
also
backed
by
Aidan
Helmi,
media
adviser
to
Iraqi
parliament
speaker
Osama
al-Nujaifi,
who
said
that
the
explosion
was
caused
by
a
suicide
bomber
and
termed
it
a
botched
"assassination
attempt"
on
Nujaifi.
Helmi
said
a
man
driving
a
black
vehicle
of
the
type
that
make
up
Nujaifi's
convoy
tried
to
enter
the
VIP
gate
of
parliament,
backed
up
when
asked
for
a
badge,
hit
another
car,
exited
his
vehicle,
argued
with
the
other
driver,
and
blew
himself
up.
The US military, when asked about the parliament blast, said that "there was an MAIED (magnetically attached improvised explosive device) near the northeast corner of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It has not been characterised as a suicide attack."
The
interior
ministry
official
also
said
that
two
people
were
killed
and
four
wounded
by
a
magnetic
"sticky
bomb"
on
a
vehicle
in
the
Mansur
area
in
western
Baghdad.
And
one
person
was
killed
and
18
others
wounded
by
three
roadside
bombs
in
the
disputed
north
Iraq
city
of
Kirkuk,
Major
General
Turhan
Abdul
Rahman,
the
deputy
director
general
of
Kirkuk
police,
said.
Monday's deaths raise the toll from a week of surging violence across Iraq to at least 61.
On Sunday, bomb and gun attacks killed four people and wounded nine, while the previous day 16 people were killed and 20 wounded in bombings and shootings in Baghdad and Abu Ghraib, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the capital.
Three
bombs
exploded
in
the
southern
port
city
of
Basra
last
Thursday,
killing
19
people,
including
high-ranking
army
and
police
officers,
and
wounding
at
least
65.
And
five
people
were
killed
in
attacks
in
the
disputed
northern
Iraq
city
of
Kirkuk
on
November
22.
Violence
has
declined
nationwide
since
its
peak
in
2006
and
2007,
but
attacks
remain
common.
A
total
of
258
people
were
killed
in
October,
according
to
official
figures.
General
Lloyd
Austin,
the
top
US
commander
in
Iraq,
has
warned
of
"turbulence"
on
the
security
front
as
American
forces
depart
and
militant
groups
seek
to
take
advantage
of
the
vacuum.
He specifically pointed to Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Iranian-backed militias.
American troops are set to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, bringing to a close an almost nine-year war that has left thousands of American soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead, and cost hundreds of billions of dollars.