Bombings and shootings rock Iraq

Dubai A wave of apparently coordinated bombings and shootings in seven provinces across Iraq yesterday killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 160, security officials said.

It was the deadliest day in Iraq since March 20 when a string of blasts killed 50 people and wounded 255 nationwide.

Twenty-two civilians, 10 police, three members of an anti-Al Qaida militia and two soldiers were killed in dozens of attacks, including 14 separate car bombings, 13 other bomb attacks and three suicide bombings. Bombings in and around Baghdad killed at least 17 people and wounded 101, an interior ministry official said.

A car bomb targeting Health Minister Majid Hamed Ameen's convoy in Haifa Street in the heart of the capital killed two civilians and wounded nine people, including four of the minister's guards.