Attacks in Iraq kill 22 amid anti-govt protests

BAGHDAD - A wave of bombings and shootings killed 22 people and wounded at least 69 others on Monday across Iraq, as the country grappled with anti-government protests and political row ahead of an annual major Shiite ritual.

In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-trapped car into a procession of Shiite pilgrims in Karrada district in center of the city, leaving four people dead and 16 others injured, a well-placed source at Interior Ministry told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Five policemen were killed and six others wounded, including a civilian, in Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, when a bomb went off as the officers were trying to defuse the explosive, a local police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua.

Meantime, earlier in the day, another attack took place when gunmen blew up three bombs at three houses at the town of al- Mussayab, 60 km south of Baghdad, killing seven people and injuring four others.

Separately, a mortar round landed near a procession of Shiite pilgrims in Al-Latifiyah, 40 km south of Baghdad, leaving three people injured, 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, 100 km south of Baghdad.

In Hilla city, the capital of Babil province, a car parked near a Shiite mosque detonated, killing one  pilgrim and wounding three others.

Meanwhile, another car bomb hit the convoy of the provincial governor, damaging one of his convoy's vehicles and wounding three of his bodyguards aboard, the source said.

The governor escaped the attack unharmed, the source added.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, roadside bombs and gunfire attacks targeted Iraqi security forces and Shiite pilgrims across the province, killing at least five people and wounding about 32 others, said a local policeman.

Elsewhere, a car bomb went off near a police patrol in the city of Tuz-Khurmato, some 200 north of Baghdad, wounded two civilians, a local police source said.

The attacks on the Shiite community came just days before the commemoration of the major Shiite ritual of Arbaeen.