Attacks across Iraq kill at least 26 (2nd Roundup)

Jul 28, 2010, 16:21 GMT

Baghdad - At least 26 people were killed in violent incidents across Iraq in a 24-hour period up to Wednesday evening, ranging from shooting attacks to explosions.

The continued attacks came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen met to discuss the political stalemate in the country ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of US forces next month.

More than four months after Iraqis went to the polls, political parties - non of which won an outright majority - have yet to agree on a ruling coalition and the appointment of a new president, prime minister and speaker of parliament.

One incident in the capital saw four people killed and 11 injured when a roadside bomb exploded outside a restaurant in Sadr City, a crowded neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.

In the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, two attacks left at least six people dead, including a young girl, and wounded several others.

According to security officials in the city, some 400 kilometres from the capital Baghdad, a police patrol came under attack, killing a senior figure, identified as a captain, and two other officers.

A young girl was also killed in the hail of gunfire and her father was seriously wounded.

Separately, a grenade was thrown at a military checkpoint, killing two civilians and wounding three soldiers.

Mosul is among the most ethnically diverse and dangerous regions of Iraq. Insurgents continue to mount near-daily attacks in the area, despite security crackdowns.

Earlier, police said rockets launched by militants killed 16 people in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, and injured another 22 people.

The rocket attacks late Tuesday went off near the offices of the Department of Immigration.

Hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims have gathered to mark the anniversary of the birth of a revered 9th century leader known as Imam al-Mahdi in Karbala.

Some 30,000 troops and police forces were deployed in the city, 118 kilometres south of the capital, where attacks in Karbala on Monday left at least 35 people dead.

Since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in the US-led invasion of 2003, such gatherings in the Shiite holy city have taken on additional meanings as shows of strength and are frequently targeted in sectarian violence.