Series of attacks in the Baghdad area at
least 13 dead and dozens injured

BAGDAD – At least thirteen people lost their lives and dozens were injured in a series of attacks in the central area of ​​Iraq. Iraqi security services have announced it. The terrorist offensive coincides with the departure of the last British soldiers, men of the navy engaged so far in a training mission conducted by naval units (most of the London military had been withdrawn in July 2009).

The most vicious attack took place in Taji, 25 kilometers north of Baghdad: in a double attack that took place around 9 am local time, seven policemen were killed and ten others were injured. The script is the one followed several times: the explosion of a car bomb was followed by a suicide attack when the police rushed to the scene.

The other attacks have caused, in different neighborhoods of Baghdad, six dead and fifty-five wounded. Within a few hours 12 bombs exploded on the side of the road and three car bombs and there was a suicide attack. It is not clear if the terrorist acts were coordinated. What is certain is that they raise new doubts about the ability of Iraqi security forces to protect the population a few months after completing the withdrawal of American troops.

On Saturday, seven people had died in an attack on Kirkuk, the capital of the disputed oil province in northern Iraq, where at the end of March there had been a triple attack that killed 29 people.

(May 22, 2011)