Basra, Baquba attacked by bombs

Sahwa militiamen, former Sunni rebels who sided with US soldiers against Al-Qaeda At least eight people were killed and dozens wounded in three explosions in Iraq's southern city of Basra, officials said. The explosions occurred outside three cafes on Wednesday on a street in central Basra where people gather in the evening to smoke traditional water pipes and play dominoes and backgammon.
The city of Baquba also saw attacks, where a suicide bomber and a car bomb targeted anti-Qaeda militiamen on Thursday killing at least six people and wounding 28, an army officer and a doctor said.
The suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt outside the gates of a military base as members of the Sunni Sahwa militia lined up to collect pay, and a car bomb blew up in a nearby parking lot a few minutes later, the security source said.
Baquba, the capital of restive Diyala province, is about 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
“We have six killed and 23 wounded. This is an initial report because they are still transporting the casualties,” said Faris al-Azzawi, a spokesman for the Diyala province health department.
Police sources said the toll was 10 dead and 40 wounded.
In Basra, Ali al-Maliki, head of the Basra provincial council's security committee, said eight people were killed and 22 others wounded. Brigadier Faisal al-Abadi, head of Basra police however put the toll at two killed and 30 wounded.
"I was near my son's cafe when I heard an explosion and quickly came to the area. I saw people lying on the ground, blood spots on the floor. People were shocked and screaming. My son is amongst the wounded," said Abu Abdullah, whose son owns one of the cafes targeted.
A witness at the scene said there was little structural damage as a result of the blasts. "There are many critical cases amongst the wounded. We expect the death toll will rise," a hospital source in Basra said.  
United States President Barack Obama said on 21 October that US forces would withdraw from Iraq by the year-end in accordance with a 2008 security pact. Military leaders have expressed concerns that fighters might ramp up attacks as the 39,000 US troops left in Iraq pack up to leave.
Bombings and attacks remain a daily occurrence in Iraq nearly nine years after the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein and the number of people killed in October was the highest this year.
A total of 258 people were killed in October, according to official figures.