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Bombs kill at least 18 in Iraq

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Associated Press

A string of bombings killed at least 18 people across Iraq on Monday, shattering a relative lull in violence during the celebration that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The blasts primarily targeted Iraqi security forces, which have been the focal point of insurgents’ attacks since U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities at the end of June. The uptick in violence also comes as the country’s shops and schools reopened after the Eid al-Fitr holiday that follows the end of Ramadan.

The deadliest attack Monday occurred in Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber drove a tanker truck packed with explosives into a police post, killing at least seven people and wounding 16, a security official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

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Witnesses said the truck exploded near the front gate of the post, which is home to one of seven police battalions in the area. Cars and trucks on the base erupted in flames.

Three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a double roadside bombing in the mostly Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Ghazaliya in west Baghdad, police said. Fifteen people, including 11 civilians, were wounded.

In southern Iraq, a bomb attached to a bus killed at least six people, while in the northern city of Mosul, two policemen were killed and two others were wounded when a roadside bomb hit their patrol, security officials said.

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