Iraq bracing for Ramadan violence

In 2003, the Red Cross Headquarters in Baghdad was bombed at the start of Ramadan. Violence has followed on each successive Ramadan since.

Bombers and gunmen killed more than 30 people and wounded dozens across Iraq on Monday as the government prepared to tighten security ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, when violence has risen in recent years.

Two suicide car bombers attacked a police station Monday in Ramadi, killing at least 2 police officers and wounding 26 people, the Interior Ministry said. Elsewhere, a suicide bomber killed at least 20 people and wounded 17 others in an open-air market in the northwestern city of Tal Afar, said the police chief, Brigadier Sabah Hamidi. There were no Iraqi or U.S.-led security forces in the area at the time, he said.

The violence came as the government was preparing to announce new security measures for Baghdad before Ramadan, which is expected to start Sunday. Mohammed al-Askari, a Defense Ministry spokesman, said the measures would be adopted two or three days before the holy month begins to "protect citizens from terrorists attacks during this month."

Read the rest at the International Herald Tribune

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