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Separate attacks in Iraq kill 27

BAGHDAD — A double bombing at a market and other attacks across Iraq killed at least 27 on Monday, officials said.

Twin explosions went off shortly after sunset at the entrance of an outdoor market in downtown Baghdad, killing 16 shoppers and wounding 35 others, police officials said. Bombings in public places are the hallmark of Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch, which is trying to destabilize the Shi’ite-led government.

Also, three civilians and a police officer were killed and 30 others were wounded when a roadside blast hit a passing police patrol in a crowded commercial street at night in the northern city of Mosul, said local police and hospital officials.

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In southern Baghdad, three police officers and a civilian were killed while four other police were wounded when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a police checkpoint at noon. Also, gunmen killed a Justice Ministry employee in a drive-by-shooting as he was driving home from work in Baiyaa district in western Baghdad.

Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb struck a car carrying two Sunni militiamen fighting Al Qaeda in Baghdad’s northeastern suburb of Husseiniyah, killing them both.

The militia, known as the Sahwa, joined forces with US troops at the height of the Iraq war to fight Al Qaeda. Iraqi troops and Sahwa fighters have been a favorite target for Sunni insurgents, who consider them to be traitors.

Medical officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to talk to media.

Today’s attacks bring the death toll across the country this month to at least 360, according to an Associated Press count.

Associated Press