Gunmen kill 18 pipeline workers in Iraq
The attack killed 15 Iranians and three Iraqis
Gunmen Friday shot dead 18 people -- most of them Iranians -- who were working on a gas pipeline from Iran to Iraq northeast of Baghdad, police officers said.
The attack near Baladruz killed 15 Iranians and three Iraqis, and wounded five Iranians and two Iraqis, the officers said.
Violence has reached a level this year not seen since 2008, when Iraq was just emerging from a period of brutal sectarian killings.
The surge in unrest has raised fears the country is falling back into all-out conflict.
It took just eight days for this month’s death toll to surpass that for the entire month of December last year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
Also Read
-
Attacks on shiites kill 18 in Iraq
One of the blasts at the Abu Idris shrine in Baquba killed 11 people and wounded 19 Middle East -
Deadly car bomb hits central Iraq, 11 killed
A car bomb near a cafe in central Iraq killed 11 people Monday, the latest in a series of such attacks this year Middle East -
Militants attack in shopping mall kills nine in Iraq
Eleven other hostages from the mall were freed by security forces Middle East -
Iraq violence killed 900 in November
More than 6,000 people have been killed this year, forcing Baghdad to appeal for international help in battling the rise of militants Middle East
