Bombs, Blasts Kill 11 In Iraq’s Disputed Areas

Bombs exploded in three towns and villages in Iraq’s disputed territories on Monday, killing at least 11 people in the second day of attacks in areas at the center of a feud between Baghdad and autonomous Kurdistan.

Two blasts hit a Shi’ite district in Tuz Khurmato, killing at least four and wounding 24 and a truck bomb killed seven in a Shabak minority area near Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of the capital, security and local officials said.

Another car bomb hit a second village near Mosul without causing any casualties, police said.

No one claimed responsibility for Monday’s blasts. But the areas have been a potential flashpoint between the Arab-led central government and ethnic Kurds since the last American troops left the country a year ago.

The ethnically mixed, disputed territories are a swath of land marking Iraq from the area administered by Kurds in the north, including the sensitive city of Kirkuk, which sits atop some of the world’s largest oil reserves.

Last month, both Baghdad and Kurdistan sent troops from their respective armies to reinforce posts around towns in the disputed territories, escalating tensions in their long-running fight for control of land and oil wealth.

Reuters