BAGHDAD — A suicide car bomb killed at least 13 people in western Anbar province as militants continued a campaign of attacks ahead of the formation of Iraq’s next government.
The explosion at the Iraqi government compound in the provincial capital, Ramadi, comes after the killings of 26 people a week ago in a series of bombings around Baghdad. Such violence feeds a general resignation among some Iraqis that, despite improvements in security over the last three years, the Iraqi government remains unable to completely stop the bloodletting.
The attack Sunday comes ahead of this week’s Shiite religious holiday, Ashura, which marks the slaying of Imam Hussein in 680, which resulted in the formal schism between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. At the same time, Iraqi political blocs are hurrying to name a government before the year’s end.
The country’s national elections in March ushered in a stalemate that ended only last month when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a member of Iraq’s Shiite majority, won backing for a second term. Anbar, site of much of the most bloody fighting shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is majority Sunni Arab.
The attack in Ramadi saw a sport utility vehicle trying to ram the gates of the government compound; the vehicle exploded under fire from guards, killing at least 13 people and wounding 30 others, according to police. The vehicle had passed one checkpoint before it started to speed and was hit.
