IMAN Chairman condemns suicide blasts at political gatherings in Iraq
Martes, 29 Abril 2014
Suicide bombers have killed dozens across the country
Iraq suicide bomb at Kurdish political rally kills 30
BBC NEWS
A suicide bombing at a rally in north-eastern Iraq has killed 30 people, security officials say.
The attack took place at a political gathering in the town of Khanaqin, which has a large Kurdish population.
It was the deadliest bombing among a wave of attacks to hit Iraq on Monday.
Iraqis are voting in the country's first parliamentary election since the withdrawal of US troops almost three years ago, but it comes amid the worst unrest since 2008.
People at the rally had gathered to watch television footage of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, casting his vote in Germany.
Mr Talabani suffered a stroke in December 2012 and has been receiving treatment in Germany.
"The attacker snuck among the crowds near the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's [Mr Talabani's party] headquarters and blew himself up, causing a tragic massacre," a police officer told Reuters news agency.
At least 50 others were injured in the blast.
Polling stations targeted
The attack was one of several attacks across Iraq on Monday. A total of at least 50 people were killed.
A bomb at a polling station in Baghdad's Mansour district killed at least three security officers.
Suicide bombers also launched attacks near voting centres in the Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu in the north.
Meanwhile, journalists in the northern city of Mosul who were covering the vote were injured after their security convoy was struck by a bomb.
Many of the attackers were disguised in army and police uniforms, Reuters said.
On Friday, at least 31 people were killed as a series of blasts targeted a Shia election rally in Baghdad. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - an al-Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIL - said it had carried out the attacks.
Soldiers, police and advance voters were casting their ballots on Monday. The majority of Iraq's electorate will vote on Wednesday.
More than 9,000 candidates are competing for 328 parliamentary seats. There will be no voting in parts of Sunni-dominated Anbar province, where security forces still battle Islamist and tribal militants for control of the provincial capital Ramadi and nearby Falluja.
Bombing death toll nearly 70 as Iraq votes for new parliament
ZAMAN
A pair of back-to-back bombs ripped through an outdoor market northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding 42, officials said, the latest spasm of violence to convulse Iraq ahead of parliamentary elections.
On Monday 50 people were killed as suicide bombers attacked a political rally, bringing the two-day death toll to 67. Iraqi police and soldiers cast their votes in the general elections on Saturday.
The attacks are an apparent effort by the militants to discourage Iraqi voters from going to the polls on Wednesday in the first nationwide balloting since the 2011 withdrawal of US forces.
Tuesday's attack took place in the town of al-Saadiyah, 140 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of Baghdad, a police officer said.
One of the bombs was placed in the middle of the town's main vegetable and meat market, he said, while the second was put near one of the exits -- presumably trying to strike people fleeing from the first blast, a tactic widely used by insurgents in order to inflict as many casualties as possible. Four women and two children were among the dead.
A medical official confirmed the casualty figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
None immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida-inspired Sunni militants seeking to undermine the Shiite-led government's efforts to maintain security across the country ahead of Wednesday's polling.
Earlier Tuesday, the al-Qaeda splinter group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for a wave of deadly attacks across Iraq on Monday, including a massive suicide bombing in a Kurdish town northeast of Baghdad that killed at least 25 people.
The bomber in the Monday evening attack in the Kurdish town of Khanaqin in the turbulent Diyala province blew himself up among a group of Kurds who were celebrating the appearance on local TV of Iraq's ailing president, Jalal Talabani, also a Kurd.
That explosion also wounded 35 people and sent the day's overall death toll from Iraq attacks to at least 46 people.
Talabani was shown after casting his ballot abroad as part of early and expat voting in his first public appearance since 2012. He has been in Germany for medical treatment following a stroke.
On Monday, insurgents mostly targeted polling stations where security forces were casting ballots two days ahead of the vote. The early balloting meant to give troops a chance to vote since most would be on duty on election day, guarding the polls.
In its statement posted on one of its Twitter accounts, the ISIL also took credit for some of Monday's attacks on polling stations. The authenticity of the statements could not be independently verified but its style was consistent with previous ones.
Emboldened by the successes of its fellow militants in the civil war next door in Syria and by widespread Sunni anger at the government in Baghdad, the group has strengthened since last year in Iraq.
Along with other insurgent groups, it has gained control since late last December of pockets of the provincial capital of Anbar province, Ramadi, and nearly all of the nearby city of Fallujah.
Due to the instability and clashes, there will be no balloting Wednesday in parts of Anbar.
More than 9,000 candidates are vying for 328 seats in parliament, which is widely expected to be won by an alliance led by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is likely to seek a third four-year term in office.
Condemning the attacks, Chairman of the IMAN Foundation, Ribal Al-Assad said:
"I am very sorry to learn of these recent attacks; perpetrated by those who wish to fight democracy in favour of an Islamic Caliphate State.
These people seek to destroy all those who do not subscribe to their perverted ideology; they have no respect for the sacrosanctity of human life and will commit any crime to achieve their goal.
We must not let these extremists win, the people of Iraq deserve a lasting peace and not more sectarian violence - those behind these attacks must be brought to justice and held account for their actions.
We have to root out extremism wherever we find it and the Intentional community must do more to bring these networks down. Only then will ordinary citizens be able to move on with their lives.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families at this time."
