By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Militants attacked in multiple locations across the country on Thursday, killing a number of people with reports as high as sixty-two dead.  The militants included bombers and gunmen appearing to target law enforcement personnel.  Most of the attacks occurred in the Anbar province, a stronghold of the anti-government Sunni population.

Gunmen shot and killed three soldiers at an army checkpoint near Barwana, a small Anbar town 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.  The gunmen then continued down the road and opened fire on a nearby trailer used by Iraqi security forces protecting oil facilities.  After killing the eleven officers inside, the gunmen proceeded to set the trailer ablaze.  The men inside the trailer were likely sitting down to break Ramadan fast at sunset when they were attacked.

A suicide car bomb in Fallujah, also in Anbar, killed two people and wounded five, according to local security officials. Additionally, the police headquarters there were reportedly attacked by gunmen killing seven officers.  Similarly, in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, provincial officials stated that two officers were killed during an assault on a police station.

In the Anbar towns of Kirkuk, Tikrit, and Khaldia there were additional reports of attacks that employed car and roadside bombs to injure and kill a number of people including some soldiers.

Iraqi security forces were not the only target of the day as at least two attacks occurred in civilian settings.

In the town of Muqdadiya, 80 km northeast of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded at a funeral and a suicide bomber detonated himself as people began evacuating the wounded.  The attacks killed at least eleven people, police said.

“I was sitting inside the tent…when I heard a huge explosion. I rushed out (and) saw a car burning. While we were busy evacuating the injured, a suicide bomber took us by surprise,” said 47-year-old teacher Kadhim Hassan, who was taken to hospital with injuries to his leg.

Also, 85 km north of Baghadad, in Yathrib at least ten people were killed and eighteen others wounded when two car bombs occurred near a coffee shop.

The killings are only the continuation of violent turmoil that has seen more than 2,600 people killed since the beginning of April.  As a result, fear is spreading across the country that a civil war between the Sunnis and Shiites is becoming more and more likely.  Thus far, there has been no sign of a political comprise between the two sides.

For further information, please see:

People’s Daily – At least 62 killed, 139 wounded in wave of attacks across Iraq – 12 July 2013

Al Jazeera – Series of deadly attacks strike Iraq – 11 July 2013

BBC –Iraq violence: Dozens killed and wounded in new attacks  – 11 July 2013

Reuters –Bomb, gun attacks across Iraq kill at least 44 – 11 July 2013

Washington Post –Iraq attacks leave 31 dead, mostly security forces  – 11 July 2013