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Car bomb attack kills 12, wounds 20 in Iraq

31 August 2013 21:17 (UTC +04:00)

The car bomb exploded near a police patrol in the centre of the Ramadi city on Saturday, police and medical sources said. A lieutenant colonel was among the casualties.

Earlier gunmen shot dead five people at a mosque during early morning prayers in the neighborhood of Baghdad Jadidha, in the capital's east, two security officials said.

One worshiper was also reportedly injured in the shooting.

The attacks were the latest in a surge of violence across the Arab country in a decade after the US-led invasion.

According to the United Nations, a total of 1,057 Iraqis, including 928 civilians, were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in terrorist attacks throughout the country in July -- the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008.

Similar attacks in Iraq have killed more than 4,400 people since the beginning of 2013, an average of 15 people each day.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry has said militants have launched an open war in Iraq and they want to push the Middle Eastern country into chaos.

"The country is currently facing an open war from bloodthirsty sectarian forces that aim to plunge the country into chaos," the Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on July 30.