AlQa'dah 11, 1434, Sep 17, 2013, SPA -- At least 28 people were killed in Iraq on Tuesday in a series of gun and bombing attacks in the country's central and northern provinces, dpa cited security officials and witnesses as saying. In the capital, eight people were killed and 19 injured in mortar attacks and car bombings. Also in Baghdad, a would-be suicide bomber was reportedly killed by bystanders before he could blow up himself. In Baquba city, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, eight people were killed and seven injured in separate attacks. Unidentified gunmen executed seven off-duty soldiers at a fake checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul, officials said. In Falluja city, some 60 kilometres west of the capital, four suicide bombers blew themselves up in an attempted prison break that was thwarted by police. Three policemen were injured in the blasts, while armed accomplices to the attack escaped the scene before security backup arrived. Hundreds of prisoners escaped in July when al-Qaeda militants attacked the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad and the al-Hout jail in al-Taji, an area north of the capital. Leaders of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups were housed in both facilities. There has been a sharp rise in sectarian violence in Iraq in recent months. The United Nations said that 1,057 people were killed in July, the deadliest month in more than five years, while at least 916 civilians were killed in August.
