Bombings and kidnappings besiege Iraq after Maliki peace plan

Bombings and kidnappings besiege Iraq after Maliki peace plan
by Ammar Karim Mon Jun 26, 4:13 PM ET

BAGHDAD (AFP) - At least 57 people were killed in attacks and 10 students were kidnapped from their hostel in Baghdad, one day after the prime minister unveiled a peace plan aimed at easing the violence.

Moscow meanwhile confirmed the killing of four of its Baghdad embassy employees following an Internet statement by their kidnappers, an Al-Qaeda-led insurgent grouping, that they had been executed.

Sectarian violence reared its head again in Iraq when at least 25 people were killed and scores wounded in two separate bombings targeting the country's majority Shiite community.

The first attack happened near Baquba in the village of Khairnabat, northeast of Baghdad, when a booby-trapped motorbike exploded in a marketplace killing at least 18 and wounding 20, a defense ministry source said.

Baquba's main hospital confirmed the toll and said most of the dead were children.

Shortly after a home-made bomb exploded in the main market of the city of Hilla, south of Baghdad, at least killing seven and wounding 13, according to the main hospital.

And in the fourth incident of mass abductions this month, gunmen arriving in five sports utility vehicles with tinted windows stormed into a hostel on Oqba bin Nafaa square in the capital's Karradah district and abducted 10 students, who were singled out for being Sunnis, security officials said.

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