Baghdad, Iraq – A wave of bomb attacks and shootings swept Iraq on Sunday, killing dozens of people despite a massive security operation in the capital and appeals from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for an end to sectarian fighting.
Al-Maliki insisted that his government was making progress in combating attacks by insurgents and sectarian clashes between Shiites and Sunnis.
“We’re not in a civil war. Iraq will never be in a civil war,” he said through an interpreter on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “The violence is in decrease, and our security ability is increasing.”
Asked about U.S. allegations that Iran is supporting Iraqi groups involved in sectarian violence, al-Maliki said the reports were being investigated. He said Iraqi authorities were in contact with Iran to determine the veracity of the information “and to prevent this interference.”
The Shiite prime minister dodged a series of questions about Iraqi support for Hezbollah and whether his government had any intention of recognizing Israel.
“This issue is not on the table at this point,” al-Maliki said of diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, adding that the issue of Israel should be handled by “international laws.”
Across Iraq, Sunday’s attacks left more than 50 people dead.
A group of assailants in three cars raked an open-air night market with gunfire in Khalis, a mostly Shiite town 50 miles north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people and wounding 25 others, police said.
Earlier in the day, another six people were killed and 14 wounded when a bomb exploded on the outskirts of the town.
The U.S. military command said two U.S. soldiers were killed – one by small-arms fire in eastern Baghdad on Sunday afternoon, and the other on Saturday night when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb southeast of the capital.
In downtown Baghdad, a bomb in a minibus exploded outside the Palestine Hotel, killing nine people and wounding 16, while a car bomb outside the offices of a government-run newspaper left three dead and at least 29 wounded, police and witnesses said.
