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3 killed, 18 wounded in Iraq's violence

03 June 2013 17:33 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Three people were killed and 18 wounded in separate bombings and shootings in central and western Iraq on Monday, the police said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol on a main road near the city of Heet, some 160 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, destroying a military vehicle and killing a soldier aboard, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

A woman in a nearby civilian car was also killed by the blast, the source said.

In a separate incident, Major General Mohammed al-Karradi, Commander of the Iraqi army's 7th Division, escaped unharmed three roadside bomb explosions near his convoy in al-Mohamadiyat area outside the city of Heet, the source said.

The triple blasts destroyed one of the convoy's vehicles and wounded three soldiers aboard, while five bystanders at the scene were also wounded, the source added.

Near Baghdad, a roadside bomb went off in the afternoon near a police patrol in a village in Abu Ghraib area, some 25 km west of the capital, killing a policeman and wounding two, a local police source anonymously told Xinhua.

Also in the area, another roadside bomb hit an army patrol wounding two soldiers, the source said.

Separately, gunmen using silenced weapons wounded a lawyer when they opened fire on his car while he was driving near his house in Saidiyah district in the southern part of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, five people were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their car while travelling on a main road near the city of Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

Violence is still common in Iraq despite a dramatic decrease since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.