Blog Post 8: Iraq March 26th, 2011 to April 1st, 2011

Iraqi guards outside the Technical Institute

The last week of March was filled with violence all over Iraq. Gunmen set off bombs and raided jewelry stores in Baghdad on the 28th. The gunmen set off the bombs to distract police so they could have a more open opportunity at the jewelry stores. There were four killed and nine injured. Besides these raids, there was a roadside bomb that killed one officer and wounded four others. There were four explosions elsewhere in Baghdad, which wounded 12. Three gunmen raided a house in Mosul and killed its seven inhabitants. Finally, six were injured at the Technical Institute in Kirkuk. In these instances alone, there were 12 killed and 31 injured.

There was another assault in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Tuesday the 29th. The gunmen wore police uniforms and suicide vests and assaulted the provincial council office, taking some hostages. The situation intensified to the point where US troops intervened. US troops didn't take back the office, but observed local forces doing so. Tikrit officials said there all the gunmen and hostages were killed, making the death toll about 30.

Azzaman News reported that an explosive device was attached to the car of the Dean of Baghdad University Medical College. Although the killings lately have been with silenced weapons and targeting army officers, professors have also been targeted in the last few years. Because of this, thousands of professors have fled Iraq for fear of their lives.