Bombings across Iraq have left at least 30 people dead, a day after an assault on a Sunni mosque killed at least 60 worshipers as they attended weekly prayers, in the government-controlled village of Bani Wais in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad.
Officials say a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into an Interior Ministry building in Baghdad Saturday, killing at least eight people and wounding several others. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the ministry's intelligence headquarters.
Iraqi officials say three bombs erupted in Kirkuk, killing at least 18 and wounding more than 100 others. Another bomb rattled the normally quiet city of Irbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region.
The Reuters news agency also reports a deadly bombing in Tikrit.
UN calls for action in Amerli
Meanwhile, a United Nations envoy is calling for immediate action for the northern town of Amerli, to prevent what he says is a possible massacre. Nickolay Mladenov said Saturday the Islamic State group has cut off inhabitants from food and water supplies for almost two months. He is urging the Iraqi government to do all it can to relieve the siege and ensure that residents receive lifesaving humanitarian assistance or are evacuated.
In another development, the U.S. military said it carried out airstrikes near Mosul Dam to support Iraqi security force operations. It said the strike destroyed a vehicle used by Islamic State militants.
Mosque attack investigation
The bombings come shortly after the speaker of Iraq's parliament said an investigation is under way into the mosque attack that escalated sectarian tensions. Salim al-Jabouri told reporters in the capital an investigative team has been given two days to find out who is responsible for what he called "the vicious crime and massacre."
Witnesses and Sunni religious officials blamed members of a hardline Shi'ite militia for the attack, but some government military commanders said they suspect Islamic State militants were responsible for the carnage.
