Attacks kill 11 in Iraq
October 13, 2013
The deadliest of Sunday's attacks, which targeted mainly commercial areas and bus stations, came in the southern city of Hillah, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital, Baghdad. Back-to-back car bombings hit an outdoor market there, killing seven people and wounding more than 20, a police officer said.
Two other car bombs exploded simultaneously in the city of Kut, 160 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, killing at least three people and wounding more than 30.
In the northern city of Samarra, a bomb targeting a group of people mourning the victims of an explosion on Saturday killed at least one person and wounded 15. An attack in Basra wounded at least 13 people.
An increase in attacks since the beginning of the year has led to more than 5,000 deaths in Iraq. October alone has seen at least 258 people killed in the first two weeks. According to UN estimates, attacks in September killed at least 979 people, one of Iraq's highest monthly tolls in five years.
mkg/hc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)