13 Iraqis killed in five Baghdad attacks

A series of attacks by suspected insurgents using guns, bombs and mortar shells killed a total of 13 Iraqis in Baghdad today.

The US military also said that an Army soldier had been killed on Tuesday by small arms fire in Baghdad.

In today’s worst attack, gunmen opened fire on a bakery, killing eight people and wounding one, police said.

Such attacks are usually carried out by Sunni-Arab militants since most of the bakeries in the city are run by Iraqis from the country’s Shiite majority.

Those killed or hurt in the shooting in Baghdad’s eastern neighbourhood of Zayouna included employees of the bakery and its customers, said police Capt. Mohammed Abdel-Ghani.

The attack at the al-Rafidain Bakery left pools of blood on the floor, some containing pieces of Middle Eastern bread that had been dropped and furniture overturned during the panic.

“The gunmen stormed into the bakery and killed workers while they were baking. They had done nothing bad,” said one man who joined other local residents outside the small store after the attack.

Three civilians and two Iraqi policeman also died in four other attacks in Baghdad this morning.

A roadside bomb exploded in another part of Zayouna, killing one Iraqi policeman and wounding three, said police Lt. Bilal Ali.

In Amil, a section of western Baghdad, a motorcycle rigged with explosives killed two civilians and wounded one, said police 1st. Lt. Mutaz Salahhidine.

Two mortar shells hit a police checkpoint near the Interior Ministry in eastern Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding one, said policeman Mohammed Kheyoun.

Ten minutes later, a roadside bomb exploded beneath a parked car in Palestine street, a main road in eastern Baghdad, killing one civilian and wounding six, said police Lt. Ali Muhsin.

Police also said the bullet-riddled, blindfolded bodies of four Iraqis were found in two locations of eastern Baghdad at 11pm local time yesterday and 6.30am today. Each victim had been tied up and tortured.

Scores of Iraqis are kidnapped and killed in this fashion each week in Iraqi cities by militias, insurgents or common criminals seeking ransoms from their families.

The US military said a soldier from the Army’s Multi-National Corps-Iraq was killed by small arms fire while conducting combat operations in Baghdad on Tuesday.

The killing raised the number of American war dead to 2,859. So far this month, 41 American service members have been killed or died in Iraq.