Five killed, 11 injured in Iraq attacks

Jul 19, 2010, 16:29 GMT

Baghdad - Five people were killed and 11 injured Monday in separate blasts across Iraq, police sources said, as the country continues to suffer from post-election political tensions.

A member of the government-backed Sahwa militia was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his car went off in Falluja city, west of Baghdad, a police source told the German Press Agency dpa.

The attack came a day after suicide bombings targeting members of the Sahwa, or Awakening Councils, who have been supporting the government in its fight against al-Qaeda, killed over 40 fighters.

In Kirkuk, one civilian was killed and another injured when gunmen opened fire on them near their homes.

Earlier on Monday, police found the body of a senior member of the Kurdish Peshmerga security forces lying on the Kirkuk-Arbil road.

In the northern city of Mosul, four members of the Peshmerga were injured in a blast targeting their patrol - which was about to take part in a raid and search operation - while three policemen were killed and one injured when an explosive device targeting their patrol went off in western Mosul.

Five civilians were injured in a car bomb attack. The suicide bomber was driving the car near a foreign real estate company in al-Islah al-Zeraei neighbourhood.

The heads of parliamentary blocs met on Monday to discuss the issue of forming the new Iraqi government and resuming Parliament's session, said a media source from the House of Representatives, stressing that the meeting ended without reaching any conclusions.

Iraq has been in a political stalemate since March 7 elections left lawmakers in a dispute over who had the right to form a new government.