Bombings Kill At Least 21 in Baghdad

Iraqi authorities say a series of bombings across the capital, Baghdad, killed at least 21 people and wounded scores more on Monday as security forces battled Sunni Muslim militants around the western cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

The bloodiest attack occurred in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim Abu Dsheer district in southern Baghdad, where a car bomb near a crowded market killed seven people and wounded 18.

Five of Monday's bombs targeted mainly Shi'ite districts of the capital, while two were in mostly Sunni areas.

In other violence, two car bombs exploded in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing two people. A wounded resident blamed the government for the situation.

"What should I say. The government cannot control the situation. It can do nothing and the poor civilians are suffering. We urge the government to resign. It will be better for them and for us."

No one claimed responsibility for any of the bombings.


Meanwhile, al-Qaida-linked militants tightened their grip on Fallujah, a city near Baghdad that has been outside of government control for weeks.

Fighters affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant set up an Islamic court, kidnapped senior officials including a senior police officer and several tribal sheikhs, and broadcast calls over mosque loudspeakers for others to join them in the fight against Iraqi security forces.

Sporadic fighting again flared around Fallujah and Ramadi on Monday.

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