Iraqi police say gunmen killed seven people on a bus in a predominantly Sunni Arab area of Baghdad Monday, after car bombs killed eight people in a mainly Shi'ite area of the capital.
Police say one woman was among those killed on the bus in Amariyah. Gunmen attacked the bus hours after the car bombs exploded on the edge of the Sadr City neighborhood. Another bomb in central Baghdad killed three people.
The attacks are the latest in a wave of sectarian violence across the capital that killed about 60 people Sunday. In Washington, a White House spokesman called the attacks unjustifiable and unacceptable.
In northern Iraq Monday, a suicide truck bomb struck the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (one of the main Kurdish political parties in Iraq) in Kirkuk, killing at least three people and wounding eight.
Meanwhile, defense lawyers began closing arguments Monday in the trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants accused of crimes against humanity. Saddam was not in the courtroom.
Saddam's lawyers said they would boycott the trial until a series of demands are met, including more security and a probe into the killing of a defense lawyer last month.
After the defense concludes its final arguments, the court will adjourn for the judges to consider their verdict. Saddam and his co-defendants face possible execution if convicted.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
