Four killed in attacks on Iraq churches

Breitbart (Link) - AFP (July 12, 2009)

At least four people were killed on Sunday and 32 were wounded in a wave of bomb attacks targeting churches in Baghdad, a security official said.

The four dead, all Christians, died when a car bomb exploded near the Notre Dame church in Palestine Street in the east of the capital at around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT), the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The blast targeting the Chaldean house of worship also wounded 21 people, 15 of them Christians.

At least 11 people were wounded in other explosions at churches during the day, the official added. Three were injured in the southern Iraqi district of Dora, while the remaining eight were wounded in the other blasts.

The bombings happened less than two weeks after US forces withdrew from Iraq's urban centres on June 30 under a security pact signed by Baghdad and Washington last November.

Violence has dropped markedly throughout the country in recent months, but attacks remain common, especially in Baghdad and Mosul in the north.