22 killed in iraq violence

A wave of bombings and shootings killed 22 people on Monday as Iraq grappled with anti-government protests and simmering political crises ahead of major Shiite Muslim commemoration rituals. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks in eight towns and cities that also wounded more than 40, but Sunni militants such as Al-Qaeda’s front group in Iraq regularly target officials in a bid to destabilise the government, as well as Shiite pilgrims. The violence comes after anti-government protesters blocked a key highway to Syria and Jordan, amid political tensions between Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and a secular Sunni-backed party in his fragile national unity government.