5 killed, dozens injured in Iraqi Shi'ite city blastsMarch 1, 2013 - 12:48 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Two blasts at a busy cattle market in a mainly Shi'ite city in southern Iraq on Friday, March 1 killed at least 5 people and injured dozens more, police and medics said, as Iraq's precarious sectarian balance comes under growing strain, according to Reuters. No one claimed responsibility for the attacks immediately, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been redoubling their efforts to undermine the Shi'ite-led government and spark deeper intercommunal fighting since the start of the year. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's power-sharing government has been all but paralyzed since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011. Cows and calves were lying on the ground, covered in blood and dirt after the two car bombs were detonated simultaneously at the market in Diwaniya, 150 km (95 miles) south of the capital Baghdad. Friday's blasts followed a series of explosions targeting Shi'ite neighborhoods of Baghdad late on Thursday in which at least 22 people were killed. Iraq is calmer than in the communal bloodletting of 2006-2007, but there are concerns the war in neighboring Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Shi'ite Iran, is pushing Iraq back towards sectarian strife. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |