Shiite rally bombing sparks reprisals in Iraq
BAGHDAD – A multiple bombing killing at least 33 people at a campaign rally for a militant Shiite group likely unleashed a series of apparent sectarian attacks in Iraq, signaling the start of a new wave of Sunni-Shiite bloodletting ahead of elections next week, security officials said Saturday.
An al-Qaida breakaway group – the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack on the Baghdad rally, which drew about 10,000 backers of Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
It said on a militant website the bombings were to avenge what it called the killing of Sunnis and their forced removal from their homes by Shiite militias.
Last year, the death toll in Iraq climbed to its highest levels since the violence between 2006 and 2008. The United Nations says 8,868 people were killed in 2013, and more than 1,400 people were killed in the first two months of this year alone.
Navigating crew of S. Korea ferry in custody
SEOUL, South Korea – All 15 people involved in navigating the South Korean ferry that sank and left more than 300 people dead or missing are now in custody after authorities Saturday detained four more crew members, a prosecutor said.
Yang Jung-jin of the joint-investigation team said two helmsmen and two members of the steering crew were taken in on preliminary arrest warrants issued late Friday. Eleven other crew members, including the captain, had been formally arrested earlier.
All are accused of negligence and of failing to help passengers in need as the ferry Sewol sank April 16. The captain initially told passengers to stay in their rooms and took half an hour to issue an evacuation order, by which time the ship was tilting too severely for many people to get out.
5 NATO troops killed in Afghan chopper crash
KABUL, Afghanistan – A British helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing five NATO troops in the single deadliest day this year for foreign forces as they prepare to withdraw from the country, officials said.
The coalition said it was investigating the circumstances of the crash. A Taliban spokesman claimed in a text message to journalists Saturday the insurgents shot down the helicopter.
The United Kingdom’s Defense Ministry confirmed the helicopter was British but could not confirm the nationalities of the dead.
Associated Press
