The joint Shia-Sunni Friday Prayers came against the backdrop of growing anger countrywide over what Iraqi authorities, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, describe as attempts to sow sectarian strife.

On May 19, Maliki called on Iraqis to hold joint prayers every Friday in a bid to reduce violence after a series of terrorist attacks on Shia and Sunni holy sites across Iraq killed scores of people.

“Those who target mosques are enemies of Sunnis and Shias alike, and are planning to ignite (sectarian) strife,” Maliki said in a statement on Sunday.

More than 400 people have been killed in bombings and others acts of violence in Iraq since the start of May.

On May 21, at least 42 people were killed and many others injured in a series of terrorist attacks across Iraq. A day earlier, nearly 100 people were killed in multiple attacks.

The Iraqi premier has blamed militant groups and the remnants of the former Ba’athist regime for the violence. He has also accused some regional countries of fueling the violence in his country in a bid to topple the Iraqi government.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on May 2 that April was the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008 as terrorist attacks killed over 700 people and injured more than 1,600 others across the country.

UNAMI also stated that Baghdad was the worst affected governorate, with a total of 211 killed and nearly 500 injured.

“After consultation with security officials, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, today (Tuesday) issued orders… for changes in the operations commands and the leadership of the divisions,” a statement on the Iraqi prime minister’s website said on Tuesday.

“We are about to make changes in the high and middle positions of those responsible for security, and the security strategy,” Maliki told journalists in Baghdad late on Monday.

“I assure the Iraqi people that they (terrorists) will not be able to return us to the sectarian conflict,” which killed tens of thousands of people in Iraq during the past years, the Iraqi prime minister stated.

On Tuesday, a total of 42 people were killed and dozens of others injured in several attacks across Iraq, according to Iraqi security and hospital sources.

A car bomb targeted a mosque in the west of Baghdad, killing 11 people and injuring 21 others.

Six more people were killed and 18 others were injured by a bomb that detonated outside a cafe in the Doura district of southern Baghdad.

Eight people, including two policemen, were killed in bombings and shootings in Diyala Province.

In the town of Kanaan, about 75 kilometers northeast of the capital, two roadside bombs went off in quick succession, claiming three lives.

In the city of Kirkuk, three roadside bombs killed six people, shredding their bodies.

Two car bombs killed three people in the town of Tuz Khurmato, which is located in Kirkuk Province.

A bomber killed three soldiers at a checkpoint in the town of Tarmiya, north of Baghdad.

And in the eastern town of Khalis, gunmen broke into a house and killed a couple.

The incidents are the latest in a string of attacks that have left more than 300 people dead this month.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – About 160 people is the outcome of nine explosions that hit different areas of the capital Baghdad and the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Monday, an official security source said.

“More than 20 people were killed and 83 wounded in the initial outcome of seven bombings in Baghdad,” said the source.

While Baghdad operations command announced foiling three car bombs prepared for explosion in Sadr and Talbiya areas and the death of one of the police men during his attempt to foil the fourth car bomb in Kmaliya area.

Baghdad woke up this morning by seven bombings that hit areas of Kmaliya (East) and Kadhimiya and Shula (North), Zafaraniya and Diyala Bridge (south-east), Saydiya (south) and al-Shurta al-Rabiaa (south-west) Baghdad.

Basra city witnessed also an explosion by two car bombs that resulted in said 57 casualties according to medical sources.

Maliki called on Iraqis to hold joint prayers in one of Baghdad’s mosques each Friday to reduce violence after a series of deadly terrorist attacks on Shia and Sunni places of worship across Iraq, AFP reported.

“Those who target mosques are enemies of Sunnis and Shias alike, and are planning to ignite (sectarian) strife,” Maliki said in a statement.

Bombings near Shia and Sunni mosques have killed and injured scores of Iraqis over the past weeks.

On Friday, nearly 50 people were killed in attacks targeting mosques in north and south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks on mosques, but Iraqi al-Qaeda, which frequently carries out coordinated bombings against such civilian targets as mosques, markets and restaurants, is believed to be behind the attacks.

The terrorist group primarily targets Shias, security forces and government officials, but it has in the past also struck Sunni targets in a bid to push the country into sectarian fighting.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on May 2 that April was the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008, as terrorist acts had killed over 700 people and injured more than 1,600 across the country.

The UN mission also said Baghdad was the worst affected governorate with a total of 211 killed and nearly 500 injured.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Shia Imam of a mosque was assassinated on Saturday in front of a mosque in Awesan area in Abu al-Khaseeb district as he was shot dead by unknown insurgents,” a security source in Basra said.

“Sheikh Asaad Nasser, one of the mosques imams was assassinated this morning by unknown gunmen on his way to dawn prayers,” said a source.

This assassination process is considered the second of its kind after killing a member of the provincial council in Basra, Ali Hassan in the past few days.

Basra province (545 km south of Baghdad) witnessed last Sunday the assassination of a member of the provincial council in Basra, Ali Hasan Ali in Abu al-Khaseeb district also by unidentified gunmen using silencer weapon.

The country witnessed a sharp increase in sectarian violence in recent weeks.

The first car bombing, which occurred in the eastern district of Sadr City on Friday around rush hour, killed nine people — including a seven-year old child — and damaged a bus/taxi stop. Sixteen people suffered injuries.

Another car bomb tore through a small market in the eastern neighborhood of Kamaliya, killing three civilians and injuring 14 people.

Earlier in the day, two bombs exploded outside a mosque in the city of Baquba, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northeast of Baghdad, as worshippers left after Friday prayers.

Police said one of the bombs exploded outside the Saria Mosque and the second was detonated as crowds of people rushed to help victims of the first attack. A total of 41 people were killed and 57 were injured in the incident.

Eight people were also killed and 25 others injured when a roadside bomb exploded as a funeral procession passed by in the city of Madain, located 32 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

On Thursday, a bomber set off explosives in a mosque in the city of Kirkuk, killing eight mourners who had gathered to pay their respects to people killed in a bombing a day earlier.

The same day, three car bombs exploded in busy markets in eastern and northeastern districts of Baghdad, killing fourteen people.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on May 2 that April was the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008 as terrorist acts have killed over 700 people and injured more than 1,600 across the country.

UNAMI also stated that Baghdad was the worst affected governorate, with a total of 211 killed and 486 injured.

According to the Iraqi sources, two bombs exploded within minutes of each other outside a mosque in the city of Baqouba, north of Baghdad, on Friday as worshippers were leaving the weekly prayers.

A total of 41 people were killed and 57 others injured in the explosions.

Eight people were also killed after a roadside bomb exploded near a funeral procession in Madain, south of Baghdad. At least 25 others were also wounded in the attack.

The attacks come a day after at least 22 people were killed and dozens injured in bombings in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk.

Insurgents affiliated with al-Qaeda have stepped up their attacks in Iraq over the past weeks targeting both Sunni and Shia Muslims.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on May 2 that April was the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008, as terrorist acts had killed over 700 people and injured more than 1,600 across the country.

The UN mission also said Baghdad was the worst affected governorate with a total of 211 killed and nearly 500 injured.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – A car bomb exploded in a sprawling Shiite neighbourhood of Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing at least five civilians and wounding 30, officials said.

Two police officers said the blast struck a bus and taxi stop around rush hour in the eastern Sadr City neighbourhood. Among the five killed was a 7-year old child. The attack also wounded 19 people, the officers added.

A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

The attack followed a wave of bombings on Wednesday that struck in mainly in Shiite neighbourhoods, killing 33 people. At least seven of them died in Sadr City when a bomb in a parked car detonated at a bus stop.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Wednesday and Thursday attacks, but car and suicide bombings are a hallmark of al-Qaida’s Iraq branch.

Eight people died and as many others were injured Wednesday as a bomb went off in Kirkuk on Wednesday.

Two people were killed in a roadside bomb attack on Kirkuk police chief’s convoy. Nine people were injured in the attack.

A separate bomb attack on a police checkpoint in Tarmiyah, north of the capital Baghdad, left one policeman dead and four others wounded. In the northern city of Mosul, a roadside bomb killed once policeman and injured two others.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said on May 2 that April had been the deadliest month in Iraq since 2008 as terrorist acts killed over 700 people and injured more than 1,600 others across the country.

The group of 15 militants, including six women, arrived in the Harur area at about 6:00 a.m. (0300GMT) on Tuesday.

“We are the first group to reach the safe area in Iraq,” AFP quoted Jagar, the leader of the group, as saying.

“Our withdrawal came according to orders from the leader (Abdullah) Ocalan, as we want to open a way for peace through this withdrawal,” Jagar added.

Thousands of PKK militants are expected to withdraw from Turkey to settle in their strongholds in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The withdrawal, which will take three to four months, is part of a peace drive agreed upon by Ankara and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan earlier this year.

Ocalan, who was captured by Turkish security forces in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in 1999, is serving a life sentence at Imrali Island prison on charges of leading the PKK in its armed campaign against Ankara.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Baghdad would not allow the armed militants to enter its territory as it would harm its “security and stability.”