Double Bombing in Tal Afar Among Attacks That Killed 23 Iraqis -- Antiwar.com

Double Bombing in Tal Afar Among Attacks That Killed 23 Iraqis -- Antiwar.com
Margaret Griffis, March 07, 2012

Dozens of people were killed or wounded in a complex attack in the northern city of Tal Afar. At least 23 Iraqis were killed and 44 more were wounded overall. Meanwhile, the P.K.K. kidnapped five of Iraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani’s relatives.
A combined suicide and car bomb attack at a crowded restaurant in Tal Afar left 14 dead and 22 wounded. The suicide bomber struck after first responders arrived to help those injured during the first explosion. Authorities believe that insurgents on their way to Syria may have staged the attack. Although Tal Afar had once been a hotbed of violence, it had been relatively stable in recent months.
In Turkey, the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) reportedly kidnapped five relatives, three women and two men, of Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. The kidnapping may have been in retaliation for cutting off their trafficking routes between Turkey and Iraq. Declining any chance of negotiations, the P.K.K. says it will force the group to serve in the militia.
In Baghdad, two people were killed and seven others were wounded during a blast in Mansour. A car bomb injured four guards when it blew up near the housing minister’s convoy. At least one more person was killed.
The bodies of three Kurdish men were found in grave in Salama village. The trio had disappeared in 2003 while on their way to Baghdad.
One person was killed and four more were wounded when a suicide bomb struck near a mosque in Hit.
A suicide bomber struck a mosque in Hit, where he wounded four people.
In Garma, a captain was killed while a patrolman was injured during an I.E.D. blast. Two civilians were wounded in a separate blast.
A man suspected of participating in Monday’s attack in Haditha blew himself up when security forces attempted to arrest him in Baiji.
An official in Jalawla demanded the Iraqi government take measures to increase security and prevent local Kurds from abandoning the area.
Near Hilla, a police colonel was not injured when a bomb blasted his vehicle.