Eleven Iraqi Shia returning from haj were shot dead in cold blood on Wednesday. At least 18 Iraqis died in bombings and shootings and the authorities also discovered 60 corpses in Baghdad.Eleven Shias were killed when masked gunmen stopped their bus returning home from Saudi Arabia, Karbala governor Akil al-Khazali said. Another 14 were wounded after the gunmen travelling in three cars leapt aboard the large bus and pumped bullets at random into the passengers, 130 kilometres west of Karbala, he said.
In northern Iraq, four people were killed and 12 hurt when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in the Al-Khadra neighbourhood of Tal Afar, town councillor Brigadier General Najem Abdullah said. AbdullahÂ’s own vehicle had earlier in the day come under car bomb attack in Mosul. He was not in the vehicle at the time but his driver was wounded, police said.