At least 16 people were killed in bombings and shootings across Iraq on Monday, mostly outside Baghdad. The biggest bombing occurred during evening rush hour in the al-Arabi neighbourhood of Mosul, some 360 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. Two Iraqi soldiers were among the dead, and some houses and shops were damaged by the blast, said Ninevah police Brig Abdul Karim al-Jubouri. He said the army patrol had stopped near an office of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which is headed by the president of IraqÂ’s autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani. Also in Mosul, two gasoline black market vendors were killed in a drive-by shooting, another police official said. The attackers tossed a leaflet saying they would punish anyone selling fuel on the black market, the official said on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. An off-duty policeman was also shot dead south of Mosul, said Ninevah police Brig Abdul Karim Khalaf.
Besides the 16 people killed in violence on Monday, police said 30 bodies were found across the Iraqi capital, most with signs of torture. At least three bombs went off across Baghdad, Iraqi officials said, including one in which a suicide attacker drove into an Iraqi army checkpoint and killed four soldiers. Another three soldiers were wounded, and the explosion set fire to two military vehicles. A roadside bomb targeted a police car in southeastern Baghdad, killing three policemen and wounding two others, a police official said. That attack occurred during morning rush hour near a gas station in the Rustomiyah neighbourhood. A university administrator was abducted at gunpoint during an ambush on his car, and another roadside bomb injured two policemen and two civilians, police said.
Also on Monday, Iraqi soldiers arrested 45 people and seized weapons and explosives in Mahmoudiyah south of Baghdad, an Iraqi army officer said.
Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi said on Monday that British troops could withdraw from Iraq within a year provided Iraq’s own armed forces are reformed. “If British people would like their soldiers to withdraw we have no objection but ... we should have reform of (our) armed forces,” Hashimi told reporters during an official visit to London. Asked when he thought British troops could withdraw, Hashimi said: “Within one year if we go for this comprehensive reform plan. I am definitely sure that in one year we could complete the job properly.”
Hashimi also told reporters that Iranian influence in Iraq was “deep and exceptional”. “We have plenty of evidence that Iran is becoming a major player in Iraq ... Wherever you go, you see their fingerprints,” he said.