6 bomb blasts rock Iraq, dozens killed

Baghdad: Six bombs rocked Baghdad on Monday, killing dozens of people and wounding nearly 100, most of them in a single attack in the Sadr City neighborhood in eastern Baghdad.

Thirteen people were killed in other regions of Iraq.

At least 26 people were killed and 60 wounded when a bomb ripped through Mudhfar Square, near the bustling Jamila market in the densely populated Shiite slum of Sadr City, Baghdad, emergency police said.

Authorities believe the bomb was left beside a trash container in a plastic bag. It detonated around 7:50 am on Monday near an area where day laborers gather.

Jamila market was the site of a deadly car bomb in May, which killed five people and wounded 15 others.

In western Baghdad, two people were killed and five others wounded when a car bomb exploded in the Harthiya neighborhood late on Monday morning.

Hours later, a car bomb near Yarmouk Hospital - also in western Baghdad - killed one civilian and wounded five others, a police official said. The bomb was apparently intended for an Iraqi army convoy but missed its target.

In the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Bayaa, a car bomb exploded in an outdoor market killing four civilians and wounding 15 others, police said.

Two hours later, another car bomb detonated in the southwestern Amel neighborhood, killing three and wounding 10 others.

In the northwestern neighborhood of Hurriya, a car bomb detonated around 3:30 pm, wounding four people.

In addition to the string of car bombings in the Iraqi capital, gunmen opened fire on a car carrying a Baghdad University professor, killing him and critically wounding his two bodyguards, Iraqi officials said.

Essam al-Rawi, the head of the University Professors' Union and a senior member of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, was killed Monday morning when gunmen sprayed his car with machine-gun fire while he was driving to work, police said. He was shot near his home in western Baghdad.

A government news release called al-Rawi an "honest defender of human rights and conscientious advocate for the rights of university professors."

"Al-Rawi played a active role in protecting the universities' independence by distancing them from all kinds of conflicts," the statement said.

In Kirkuk, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt outside Iraqi police headquarters, killing three people, including two police officers and a child, and wounding 16 others, police said.

Attacks in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, left 10 civilians and soldiers dead, an official with the Diyala Joint Coordination Center said. Gunmen shot and killed five people across Baquba in separate incidents, the official said.

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Another victim was gunned down in Muqdadiya, north of Baquba, according to the official.

Armed insurgents also fatally shot two Iraqi soldiers as they returned from vacation to their base north of Baquba, the official said. The soldiers were wearing civilian clothing and driving a civilian car when they were attacked.

And a roadside bomb struck a civilian car on Monday morning in the city of Khalis, about 12 miles north of Baquba, killing two and wounding two, the official said.

Also on Monday, the US military announced the death of a Marine in the sprawling Anbar province and a soldier killed on Monday by a sniper in eastern Baghdad.

The soldier was assigned to the 89th Military Police Brigade.

According to a statement from the military, the Marine died Sunday from "injuries sustained due to enemy action."

With the deaths, 101 US troops have been killed in Iraq during the month of October - the fourth highest monthly death toll since the war began in March 2003.

There have been 2,814 US military fatalities in the Iraq war, including seven American military contractors.

Other Developments

• US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Monday to discuss accelerating the training of Iraqi security forces and the transfer of security responsibilities to the Iraqi government, US and Iraqi officials said.
• Saddam Hussein's chief lawyer walked out of the former leader's trial Monday after a dozen defense requests were rejected, according to The Associated Press. The chief judge immediately appointed other attorneys to defend the deposed president, AP reported.
• US and Iraqi troops continued their search for a US soldier kidnapped in Baghdad a week ago. A woman claiming to be his mother-in-law told AP that the soldier was married to an Iraqi college student and was with his wife and her family when hooded gunmen dragged him out of a house.
• A new report to Congress says thousands of weapons the United States has provided Iraqi security forces cannot be accounted for, and spare parts and repair manuals are unavailable for many others, AP reported.