Bombings continue to kill in Iraq, 20 Sunnis kidnapped

Gunmen today kidnapped 20 employees of a government agency that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines nationwide, and the organisation suspended its work until further notice, an official said.

Gunmen today kidnapped 20 employees of a government agency that cares for Sunni mosques and shrines nationwide, and the organisation suspended its work until further notice, an official said.

At least 20 people were killed in a string of bombings and shootings, mostly in Baghdad, police said, including a senior Interior Ministry official slain on his way to work. Sixteen other bodies were found in widely separate parts of the country—apparent victims of sectarian death squads.

The announcement by the Sunni Endowment, a major institution within the Sunni community, further escalated sectarian tensions. Endowment spokesman Mahdi al Mashhadani said the employees were seized as they drove from Baghdad to their homes in Taj. He said the agency would stop work immediately.

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In west Baghdad, gunmen killed Maj Gen Fakhir Abdul Hussein Ali, legal adviser to the Interior Ministry, as he rode to work.

The violence comes a day after a suicide bomber killed 53 people near a Shi’ite shrine in the city of Kufa, south of the capital, by luring a group of labourers into his van. The suicide driver then detonated the vehicle on a busy street, local officials said.

A 24-hour driving ban was imposed in Kufa and its twin city Najaf to prevent future attacks as shop owners began clearing debris.

The ongoing surge in sectarian killings has tarnished the image of the new unity government of PM Nouri al Maliki. The killings have occurred despite a much heralded security plan for Baghdad unveiled last month.

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The UN reported yesterday that nearly 6,000 civilians have been killed in May and June alone. It said 2,669 civilians died in May and 3,149 in June—the first full month of the Maliki government. It also said militants have increasingly begun to target homosexuals. The report’s figures were higher than some other counts, but the UN said many killings go unreported.BUSHRA JUHI