New Round of Deadly Bombings in Iraq Fuels Response from PM
Published at
Iraqi Prime Minister office via Getty Images(BAGHDAD) — The sudden surge of what is to believed to be sectarian-related violence continues to spread across Iraq as a series of attacks on Thursday killed at least 30 people and wounded scores of others.
The northern city of Kirkuk in the country’s semiautonomous Kurdish region has experienced more violence lately, with a Shiite place of worship coming under attack by a suicide bomber.
Stopped from entering the building, the attacker detonated a belt rigged with explosives, leaving 13 dead and more than 40 wounded.
Ironically, some relatives of those killed in Kirkuk 24 hours earlier perished in the bombing at the place of worship.
Meanwhile, there were bombings and shootings in other parts of Iraq, including the Baghdad slum of Sadr City where six people died in a car bomb blast that injured 17 others.
The new spike in sectarian violence has been partly blamed on Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who critics say continues to marginalize Sunnis and Kurds while he preaches national unity.
Al-Maliki appeared on TV Thursday to plead for peace, saying, “The bloodshed…is a result of sectarian hatred. These crimes are a natural result of the sectarian mindset.”
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio