Double bombing in Iraq’s Baquba kills at least 14
An Iraqi worker cleans the pavement near a burnt vehicle on August 11, 2013 on the scene of a car bomb attack that occurred the day before in the northern Baghdad neighbourhood of Shaab.
Two bombs exploded in the northeastern Iraqi city of Baquba on Wednesday, killing at least 14 people and injuring over two dozen, according to BBC News.
Local police told Reuters that one bomb went off outside an ice cream parlor, while the other was detonated in a downtown cafe. Baquba lies about 40 miles northeast of Baghdad, the capital.
Violence has risen dramatically in Iraq in recent months, and some fear the bloodshed could devolve into open conflict. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki assured the nation in a televised speech on Wednesday that he would find those responsible for the latest attacks, said the BBC. Iraqis get most of their news through TV; an estimated 87 percent watch it daily, according to a 2007 media report by a US government group.
Al-Maliki addressed growing concerns over public safety in Iraq, with nearly 700 people reported killed in the last few weeks alone.
Also Wednesday, a police source told China's Xinhua that a believed Al Qaeda leader was killed and a helper arrested by Iraqi forces just north of Baquba, in the Imam Wais area, but this could not be immediately confirmed.
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