Two nearly simultaneous car bombs targeted a local police chief and a prominent Sunni sheik working with U.S. forces against al-Qaida in Iraq in a northern city on Tuesday, killing at least 18 people, authorities said.In the Iraqi capital, a parked car bomb struck a commercial area in the Khulani district, killing at least eight and wounding 25 people, including four traffic policemen. Also, in Baghdad’s predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Shaab, another parked car bomb killed two people and wounded 16, according to police.
The attacks were among a series of bombings in recent days as the terror network apparently steps up its promised Ramadan offensive as the end of the Islamic holy month draws near.
At least 24 people were killed in Baghdad and to the north on Monday in car and truck bombings, which are generally blamed on al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents. Many of the attacks have targeted Iraqi police officers, who have been frequent targets of the insurgency because they are seen as cooperating with the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
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