![Yemeni Minister of Legal Affairs Mohammed al-Mekhlafi is working to bring the country's legislative process into line with international conventions. [Faisal Darem/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/18/yemen-legal-minister-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi artist Sadik Jaafar's most recent exhibition, 'Harmony of Light', is now showing in Beirut. [Nohad Topalian/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/18/iraq-artist-sadek-90_58.jpg)
![Lebanese Shia cleric Sayyed Ali al-Amine says religious leaders in Arab countries must speak out and issue fatwas prohibiting involvement in the fighting in Syria. [Photo courtesy of Ali al-Amine]](/shared/images/2013/05/17/lebanon-ali-amine-90_58.jpg)
![Boys at a Pakistan-based training camp fire AK-47's in this undated video released by the al-Qaeda affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) terror group. [Video frame grab/Liveleak.com]](/shared/images/2013/05/17/cao-pak-children-90_58.jpg)
At least 91 Iraqis were killed and 224 others were wounded Monday (July 23rd) in a series of attacks across the country, officials said.
Twenty-two attacks -- including suicide bombings, attacks involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs), car bombs and armed attacks -- occurred in at least 14 Iraqi cities, said Col. Hikmat Mahmoud al-Masari, director of media and communications for the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
Al-Masari told Al-Shorfa that the attacks, which primarily targeted military centres and police stations, took place simultaneously between 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Monday morning.
He accused al-Qaeda of responsibility for the attacks, which are the bloodiest since 110 people were killed in a series of similar attacks in May 2010.
Security forces declared a state of emergency in cities where the strikes took place, al-Masari said, adding that they have began tracking down those involved.
Monday's biggest attack took place in Taji, north of Baghdad, where at least 42 people were killed and 40 others were wounded in a series of attacks involving an explosives vest, IEDs and a car bomb.
Eyewitnesses told AFP that a car bomb was parked on the roadside near citizens' houses and exploded as families left their houses trying to leave the area, killing a number of citizens, including women and children.
Gunmen also attacked a military base in Dhuluiya, north of Baghdad, killing at least 15 soldiers.
Meanwhile, in eastern Baghdad's Sadr City, at least 12 people were killed and 22 others were wounded in a car bomb blast.
In the Husayniah and Yarmouk areas of Baghdad, at least three people were killed and 24 others were wounded in explosions.
At least nine people were also wounded when a car bomb exploded in Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad.
Eleven people were killed and 40 were wounded in a series of attacks in Baqubah, north of Baghdad, and in surrounding areas, where security centres and police and army patrols were targeted.
Meanwhile, in Kirkuk, Iraqi police said that seven people, including a number of policemen, were killed and 29 others were wounded in a series of attacks involving car bombs and IEDs targeting different areas across the province.
Monday's attacks took place a day after the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq called on "Muslim youth" to come to Iraq, declaring that the organisation has "begun returning" to areas it previously evacuated. The group also announced a new plan to kill judges and investigators.
In a video posted late on Saturday on a number of jihadist websites, including the extremist forum Hanein, al-Qaeda "emir" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said, "I call upon all Muslim men and young people all over the world and I strongly urge them to immigrate to us."
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![A torn poster of Syrian President Bashar Assad hangs in the northern Syrian city of al-Raqa on March 5th following days of fierce fighting. [Mohammad al-Hussein/AFP]](/shared/images/2013/04/19/Syria-assad-raqaa-90_58.jpg)
![An Iraqi man pulls a cart up a hill through Baghdad traffic. [Karim Sahib/AFP]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/17/iraq-traffic-jam-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi students of all levels are preparing for their final exams. [Saif Ahmed/Mawtani]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/17/iraq-students-tests-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi security forces learned about this weapons cache from members of an 'Islamic State of Iraq' cell. [Saif Ahmed/Mawtani]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/16/iraq-anbar-cache-90_58.jpg)
![The dome of Imam al-Hadi shrine in Samarra was badly damaged in 2006 in an attack led by an al-Qaeda affiliate, according to Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security advisor at the time. [Dia Hamid/AFP]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/15/Iraq-shrine-samarra-90_58.jpg)
ADD A COMMENT (COMMENT POLICY) * DENOTES REQUIRED FIELD
READER COMMENTS
رضا عزوز
2012-8-14
O God, please let the tyrants destroy themselves! Please, God, respond and fulfill our prayers in this generous month!Oh the Lord of mankind. Amen!
ابراهيم
2012-8-4
I object.
ابو ذر مجيد
2012-7-26
The Iraqi people suffer from the criminal acts that are carried by the terrorist organizations in Iraq. Every time they target a group of the innocent Iraqis to destabilize the country. For example, they behead the victims and mutilate their bodies. They also blow up the trucks among the civilians and use the chemicals to kill the children or to use them as hostages. I also referred that the crimes of the terrorists do not spare anyone. They target all those who disagree with them and they attack the crimes of the terrorist organization, which were not limited to the foreigners, Shia, Christians, and Azidis. Their crimes against the Sunnis are as horrible as their crimes on the others. They do not respect the mosques or the worshipping houses. The horrible crimes of the terrorists are not limited to the kidnappings and killings, but they include destruction of the infrastructure of the Iraqi society and the production and service facilities.
اوراس عبد الحسين
2012-7-25
First of all, I would like to point out that the Iraqi government knows very well the extent of the suffering endured by the Iraqi people as a result of the terrorist attacks perpetrated by the terrorists, and as such I urge the government to take urgent and strict measures in order to confront the terrorist attacks so as to restore stability in the country and restore peace and security to the Iraqi people. The whole world has witnessed the extent of the suffering of the Iraqi people throughout the years as a result of terrorism and its activities against the people which left many people dead or injured, and which instilled fear in the hearts of children, and other crimes that have sparked outrage on the part of viewers. So, what would it be like for those that have experienced these acts? As such, I am making an appeal to the Iraqi government to urgently save its people from the destruction and devastation that they have lived in for many years, as it is the only one responsible for this, and Allah will hold it accountable for this if it fails to take strict measures in order to save its people from the war, and restore stability to the country, as well as peace and security to its people. When a government is put in charge of a country, it is the one that is completely responsible to provide its people with security and peace of mind, even if it has to make more efforts toward that end.
محمد الجميلاوي
2012-7-24
Why all this destruction and killing during the month of Ramadan? It is Ramadan, you murderers! Who told you that the Iraqi blood is cheap? God willing, victory is at hand, and the righteous will be blessed.
خليل
2012-7-24
If extremism possesses the human mind, it will kill any beautiful thing in the heart and mind of this man and his creativity and innovative spirit will die. Any community is a group of people and the loss of one of them is a loss not only to the individual himself but to all the community. That's why we have to fight against anything concerning the concept of extremism by all means. The most important means is the educational process that deals with the individual from his childhood to the period of adolescence. By then, the human person has already established his thoughts, feelings, opinions, perspectives, tempers, and habits. This is the period when we can plant the tempers of the individual since his childhood as well as the concept of moderation and mediation in judging issues. We also can plant in his depth that extremism will kill every beautiful thing and will not leave anything behind him except hatred, blood, and hostility among people. We have, in our hands, a tool by which we can create generations that know the meaning of moderation well, so we have to use this tool or our destiny will be regret.
سعد حرفوش
2012-7-24
Anything God created on the earth’s surface can be used to make a beautiful thing which can benefit nations and people’s lives. We can also make a bitter thing by our own hands for the worst plague to be on us. If we look around us today we will see thinkers, geniuses, and presidents as well as criminals and terrorist leaders. All these men were, one day, innocent children but what made them like that are the conditions and tools that create wrong experiences. We can make our tomorrow better in beauty, thoughts, and creativity if we use media and educational tools in the right way. Every tool has the ability to deliver information to human thoughts or plant a point of view in one's mind. Also, we can use the mind to make all nice things in order to light life or we can make things bitter that will ruin lives. Our minds are grants from God and it is a shame to mismanage their uses; the greatest concepts of the mind lie in moderation, mediation, sighted conviction and not blindness to matters; regardless of its goodness we have to leave a space for understanding and not useless conviction. All these will not be in a speech read by humans only or in a lesson you may be taught in elementary class, but all these concepts and principles are planted in the heart and mind throughout the years through all the ways that deliver information to the human mind whether they are educational or media tools.
مهدي جرو
2012-7-24
In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate: “And there is for you in legal retribution [saving of] life, O you [people] of understanding, that you may become righteous.” The crimes carried out by terrorist al Qaeda against the Iraqi people is terrorism per se and we must combat them in various ways to make the Iraqi citizen feel safety. I ask the Iraqi Government to arrest these terrorist criminals and bring them to the Iraqi Judiciary. I ask the Iraqi Judiciary to issue death penalty against these criminals and whoever has killed the innocent Iraqi citizens.
فيصل غازي
2012-7-24
The terrorist operations, whether undertaken by States, groups or individuals, are in the broad sense a kind of corruption on Earth. This phenomenon is rejected religiously, legally and morally. We must cooperate in order to address terrorism through: Tightening sanctions on terrorist offenses. Punishing crimes of attempted terrorist operations with the full penalty. Freezing and confiscating the tools and funds used for the terrorist crimes. Strengthening the technical capacities of all States in order to prevent crimes and to enable them to address the new forms of organized crime, such as money laundering, drug trafficking and terrorism. Strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism and holding conventions on this matter. Seeking to address the roots of terrorism itself. Activating the international cooperation to combat crimes of terrorism, through the exchange of information and expertise as well as in the fields of research and investigation. Promoting judicial cooperation; this could include extradition and other forms of international cooperation. Educating the people about the danger of terrorism on the security and safety of the community through State funded campaigns. Holding seminars, conferences and media programs that reveal the real and hidden reasons of committing terrorist crimes, which help to ensure that the members of the community would report intelligence information about terrorist organizations to the security authorities, so as to achieve popular support for the security services in the face of these terrorist crimes. Clarifying the difference between true terrorism and other similar phenomena. In fact, terrorism is different from legitimate armed struggle, which is recognized by international conventions. Therefore, it is not permissible to confuse between legitimate armed movements and terrorism, as long as these movements exercise their struggle in the framework set by law.
عباس
2012-7-24
The terrorist organizations are very dangerous and they threaten the Arab states because they may emerge at any moment in any land creating havoc and leaving destruction and blood, the blood of the victims and the helpless martyrs who were just in the wrong targeted place. The terrorist movements are groups of sick people, who kill, loot and seize lands in the name of religion, while they know nothing about the religion, which is innocent of their bloody and fascist crimes. God never accepts oppression, and they do nothing but oppression and the destruction of all the beautiful things in any place they have visited. All the beautiful things would turn into mirages and all the green things turn grey when they pass by them. They became like the angel of death when they approach anything. They know no mercy, humanity or belonging to anything other than their leaders or emirs. Those leaders are the leaders of destructive groups that know nothing but blood.
شوق
2012-7-23
God is sufficient for me, for He is the Best Disposer of affairs! God is sufficient for me, for He is the Best Disposer of affairs! Even in Ramadan?! May God punish them!