Iraq......
Iraq Candidates Targeted; 69 Killed 73 Wounded
by Margaret Griffis, April 19, 2014
At least 69 people were killed in ongoing violence. About half of them were militants. Another 73 civilians and security personnel were wounded. There were at least three attacks on political candidates today, and another attack on campaigners. Elections are at the end of the month.
In Anbar:
Artillery fire in Falluja killed three people and wounded eight more. Earlier, one civilian was killed and three more were wounded in shelling.
Eleven militants were killed during an operation in Ramadi. Another 21 militants were killed in the Humera neighborhood. Militants kidnapped a policeman and two children during a home invasion.
A sticky bomb planted on a car in Qaim wounded a political candidate and his driver.
Elsewhere:
Mukhisa has returned to normal, according to authorities. One suicide bomber was killed before he could cause harm.
In Baghdad, four people were killed and eight more were wounded when two bombs exploded on a Doura district commercial street; later, three more bombs killed five people and wounded 10 others. Three civilians were wounded during a shelling attack in Shoala. A gunman was killed.
Five family members were killed and two more were wounded in an attack as they were driving on a highway near Qalaat Suker.
Two people were killed and five more were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded in Tarmiya.
A suicide bomber in Meshahda killed five soldiers and wounded eight more.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded another. Gunmen killed a political candidate; then, a bomb wounded five people who had gathered. A bomb targeting another political candidate killed her bodyguard. A car bomb killed two civilians and wounded 13 others, including soldiers. Two civilians were killed in a blast. Gunmen killed one policeman and wounded another.
A roadside bomb wounded three soldiers in Muqdadiya.
A militant leader was killed in Saidiya.
In Suleimaniya, a policeman was shot and wounded during electioneering.
Militants attempted to take over a village in Diyala province but, so far, have failed to do so. This would be the second location in Diyala to suffer a prolonged siege against it at the hands of DAASH/ISIS militants. Baghdad is bookended by Diyala and Anbar provinces, so the fall of Diyala province would be a great coup for militants working their way toward the capital. At least 35 people were killed, almost all of them militants, and 53 more were wounded today.
In Anbar:
In Falluja, one of the protest organizers, Sheikh Mohammed Fayyad, said that weekly prayers would be held in separate locations today to thwart shelling attacks by the government. Among his demands was an end to the "indiscriminate" artillery fire that has killed many civilians in recent weeks. Mortars did wound 10 people today.
In Ramadi, seven security members were wounded when gunmen attacked a joint checkpoint.
Twenty militants were killed in al-Sajar.
Elsewhere:
Ten militants were killed in Mukhisa when army troops and local tribesmen repelled an attack. At least 20 civilians and security members were wounded.
The provincial governor believes militants are hoping to stage a takeover of the village as has occurred in Anbar province and, briefly, in the Diyala town of Buhriz. The former provincial governor decried the cutting off of water supplies to Mukhisa by the militants. The Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Human Rights alsoexpressed concern.
Similar militant activity appears to be occurring in Qara Tapa, but details are scant.
In Baghdad, a blast in a commercial street in Amin left three dead and five wounded.
Gunmen wounded an election candidate in Tikrit. Security forces killed a gunman.
The burned body of a businessman was found on a road near al-Hay.
Eight people were wounded in two blasts in Tuz Khormato. The first bomb drew policemen to the scene.
In Muqdadiya, a roadside bomb targeting the police chief’s convoy wounded two police escorts.
Maps of Iraq Regions - some perspectives......
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