Iraq Attacks Kill 9 Including Election Candidate

Local Editor

Attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital killed nine people on Friday, including a supporter of Sayyed Moktada al-Sadr who was standing in April's parliamentary election.

The murder of Hamza al-Shammari, the first of an election candidate, comes amid a protracted surge in bloodshed with near-daily attacks nationwide and security forces battling anti-government fighters in Anbar province.

Election candidates have been targeted in the past, with nearly 20 hopefuls killed ahead of April 2013 provincial council elections.

Shammari, a senior leader of the Shammar tribe in Baghdad, was killed by gunmen using silenced pistols in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliyah, two security officials said.

He had been due to stand in the April 30 election as part of the Ahrar list, which is loyal to the Sadrists.

North of Baghdad, separate bombings killed eight people, security and medical officials said.

In Tuz Khurmatu, a car bomb set off by a suicide attacker at a main intersection in the center of the ethnically mixed town killed five people and wounded 27 others.
Another vehicle rigged with explosives was detonated near a passing army patrol in Baiji, killing three soldiers.

No one has admitted responsibility for the surge in attacks, but militant groups, including the so-"Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" [ISIL] have been blamed.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team