Shiite imam killed; 28 wounded in Iraq attacks

BAGHDAD: A Shiite imam was killed and 28 people wounded on Wednesday, among them seven Iranian pilgrims and nine policemen, in targeted attacks across Iraq, security sources and the interior ministry said.

Unidentified gunmen riding in a taxi killed a Shiite cleric in the Orphalie district of central Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.

In the town of Al-Muqdadiyah, northeast of the capital, a homemade bomb targeting pilgrims returning home from Shiite shrines in Iraq wounded seven Iranians -- two women and five men, a security official said.

Three Iraqi guards protecting the convoy of pilgrims were also hurt in the explosion. Some 1,500 Iranian pilgrims visit Iraq each day.

Separately, 18 people, police and civilians, were hurt in other attacks in Baghdad, according to the interior ministry.

Four homemade bombs set off in coordinated explosions wounded four policemen and five others in Yarmuk, in the west of the capital, and five policemen in central Baghdad's Al-Wathaq Square.

Also, a "sticky bomb" attached to a vehicle wounded two passengers and two passers-by in Al-Wathaq Square.

Violence in Iraq has plunged dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but casualties from insurgent and military action still remain part of daily life.