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15 Killed in Attacks in Iraq


Explosion seen during car bomb attack at Shi'ite political organization's rally in Baghdad, April 25, 2014.
Explosion seen during car bomb attack at Shi'ite political organization's rally in Baghdad, April 25, 2014.
Attacks in Iraq killed about 15 people Saturday, in new rounds of violence just days before the country's parliamentary elections.

Officials say at least six people died in two separate attacks in the capital, Baghdad, while violence elsewhere killed nearly 10 people.

The violence comes a day after at least 33 people were killed in bombings at a campaign rally for a Shi'ite political organization. Friday's blasts struck as some 10,000 supporters of the group Asaib Ahl al-Haq gathered for a rally at a sports stadium in eastern Baghdad.

An al-Qaida breakaway group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group said it carried out the bombings to avenge the killing of Sunnis by Shi'ite militias.

Members of Asaib Ahl al-Haq have been fighting in Syria's civil war alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Friday's rally was meant to introduce Asaib Ahl al-Haq candidates for the parliamentary elections on April 30.

Violence and sectarian strife have surged across Iraq as militants seek to undermine the Shi'ite-led government ahead of the parliamentary vote. It will be Iraq's first national election since U.S. military forces withdrew from the country in 2011.

Some information for this report comes from AP and AFP.
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