21 people die as carnage in Iraq continues

Iran Press TV

Sun Feb 2, 2014 10:26PM GMT

At least 21 more people have been killed and several others injured in violent attacks in and around Baghdad and north of the Iraqi capital, according to security and hospital sources.

All of the deadly incidents took place on Sunday, two days after the Iraqi government announced that more than 1,000 deaths occurred in bombings and shootings across the country in January.

In the town of Baiji, a coordinated attack on a group of anti-al-Qaeda fighters killed eight people and wounded 17 others.

And 13 more people were killed in attacks in Baghdad, Balad, Taji, Mosul and Kirkuk.

The incidents are the latest in a string of attacks across Iraq that have left hundreds of people dead since the beginning of this year.

According to the figures, compiled by Iraq's ministries of health, interior and defense and released on Friday, 1,013 people were killed in January, including 795 civilians, 122 soldiers and 96 policemen.

The death toll is the highest since April 2008 when 1,073 people were killed.

Iraq's Interior Ministry has said that militants have launched an open war in Iraq and they want to push the Middle Eastern country into chaos.

"The country is currently facing an open war from bloodthirsty sectarian forces that aim to plunge the country into chaos," the Interior Ministry said in a statement issued on July 30, 2013.

According to the United Nations, at least 8,000 people lost their lives in Iraq in 2013.

Meanwhile, the country's security forces supported by Sunni tribesmen have been battling the militants in the western province of Anbar.

On Sunday, Iraqi forces reportedly killed 50 al-Qaeda-linked militants in Anbar.

On Saturday, Iraqi soldiers, police and pro-government militias launched a major offensive against the militants in Anbar's cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.

GJH/MAM/AS