Baghdad: At least 13 people were killed and 47 wounded in a series of bomb and gunfire attacks in central and eastern Iraq on Monday, the police said.
In one attack, three roadside bombs went off at three houses in the town of al-Mussayab, some 60 km south of Baghdad, in the early morning hours, killing seven people and wounding four others, a local police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Separately, a mortar round landed near a procession of Shiite pilgrims in the town of al-Latifiyah, some 40 km south of Baghdad, wounding three of them, a local police source said.
Both towns are part of the once restive area dubbed Triangle of Death, which is a cluster of towns scattered between south of Baghdad and north of Hilla city, the capital of Babil province, some 100 km south of Baghdad.
In Hilla, a car bomb parked near a Shiite mosque detonated and killed a pilgrim and wounded three others, a source from Babil provincial police anonymously told Xinhua.
Meanwhile, another car bomb struck the convoy of the provincial governor, damaging one of his convoy``s vehicles and wounding three of his bodyguards aboard, the source said, adding that the governor himself escaped the attack unharmed.
In Iraq``s eastern province of Diyala, two car bombs, roadside bombs and gunfire attacks targeting Iraqi security forces and Shiite pilgrims across the province killed a total of five people and wounded 32 others, a provincial police source said.
Elsewhere, a car bomb went off near a police patrol in the city of Tuz-Khurmato, some 200 north of Baghdad, and wounded two civilians, a local police source said.
Violence and sporadic high-profile bomb attacks are still common in Iraqi cities despite the dramatic decrease in violence since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.
(Xinhua-ANI)
