Iraq's oil production surged to its highest level in over 30 years last month. In its monthly oil report published March 14, the International Energy Agency said Iraq's oil output jumped by half a million barrels a day in February to average 3.6 million barrels a day. The country hasn't pumped that much oil since 1979, when Saddam Hussein rose to power. (WSJ, March 14) Paradoxically, the jump comes amid a new outbreak of Iraq's terrorist insurgency. A series of car bomb attacks targeting commercial areas and a restaurant killed at least 19 people March 15 in Baghdad. On March 9, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle at a checkpoint where dozens of cars were lined up in the southern city of Hillah, killing 21 civilians—the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed 42 people that day. Last year, Iraq saw the highest death toll since 2007. The UN said violence killed 8,868 last year in Iraq. (AP, March 15; AP, March 9)
See our last post on the struggle for Iraq's oil.
More terror in Iraq
At least 25 people were killed in the latest wave of attacks across Iraq on April 19, including a series of bombings targeting shoppers on a commercial street in Baghdad's Sunni neighborhood of Dora. (Al Jazeera)
More terror in Iraq
Suicide bombings and other attacks across Iraq killed at least 33 people and wounded nearly 80 more on April 21. The deadliest attack took place south of Baghdad in the town of Suwayrah, where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint, killing 12 people — five policemen and seven civilians. In the nearby town of Madain, another suicide car bomber struck an army checkpoint, killing three soldiers and two civilians. (AP)
More terror in Iraq
Suicide bombers killed 31 people April 25 at a sports stadium hosting a campaign rally for thousands of supporters of a militant Shi'ite group ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack at the Industrial Stadium in eastern Baghdad, which drew about 10,000 backers of the Iranian-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq group. (AP)
More terror in Iraq
A suicide bombing at a Kurdish political rally at Khanaqinq (Diyala governorate) killed 30 on April 28—the deadliest bombing among a wave of attacks to hit Iraq that day. Iraqis are voting in the country's first parliamentary election since the withdrawal of US troops almost three years ago, but it comes amid the worst unrest since 2008. People at the rally had gathered to watch television footage of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, casting his vote in Germany. (BBC News)
More terror in Iraq
Back-to-back bombs ripped through an outdoor market in Sadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, on April 29, killing 17. One of the bombs was placed in the middle of the town's main vegetable and meat market, while the second was put near one of the exits — presumably trying to strike people fleeing from the first blast. Four women and two children were among the dead. A further 42 people were wounded. (AP)