27 killed in Iraq attacks

Baghdad – At least 23 people and four suicide bombers were killed and 14 wounded in separa! te violent attacks across Iraq Monday, police said.

In one attack, gunmen broke into the offices of Salahudin satellite TV channel and the nearby Iraqia official television’s headquarters in Tikrit, capital of Salahudin province, killing five staffers and wounding three when four suicide bombers blew themselves up, Xinhua reported citing a provincial police source.

The attack occurred in the afternoon in Tikrit, some 170 km from Baghdad, when the suicide bombers blew up a car bomb at the entrance of the four-storey TV station building, the source added.

In another incident, four army officers and two soldiers were killed in a mortar barrage on a military base in Abu Ghraib area, some 25 km from Baghdad, a police source said.

The attack came as Iraqi security forces backed by helicopters were conducting a large-scale offensive against Al Qaeda militants in Sunni region, stretching from west of Baghdad through the province of Anbar to th! e border with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Also on! Monday, two soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb explosion near their patrol in Akashat area near the Iraqi-Syrian border in Iraq’s Anbar povince, a provincial police source said.

Meanwhile, gunmen broke into a barber shop in Fallujah city, some 50 km from Baghdad, leaving one person dead, a police source said.

Elsewhere, gunmen opened fire from their assault rifles on a pet shop in Doura district in Baghdad, killing four people, a police source said.

In a separate incident, three Shiite pilgrims were killed and six wounded when gunmen opened fire on their bus while travelling on a highway in southeastern Baghdad, the source said.

The pilgrims were heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, some 110 km from Baghdad, to observe the Arbaeen religious ritual ahead of its climax day next Tuesday.

In Diyala province, one Shiite pilgrim was killed and five wounded in a gunmen attack on their minibus near the provincial capital ci! ty of Baquba, some 65 km from Baghdad.

Also in Diyala, a civilian was shot dead by gunmen in the town of Hibhib, some 20 km north of Baquba, the source said.

According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, 8,109 Iraqis, including 952 members of security forces, have been killed in the country from January to November this year.