UN chief strongly condemns latest attacks across Iraq

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday strongly condemned a string of bombings which have killed or wounded scores of Iraqis ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday. In a statement issued here by his spokesperson, Ban strongly condemned the bombings across Iraq over the past days. According to Iraqi police and interior ministry officials, at least 23 people were killed and 148 others wounded in separate violent attacks across Iraq on Sunday. These attacks, the latest in an upsurge of bombings, are particularly despicable as they hit Iraqis at a time when they extend their hands to the needy and the suffering on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, a four-day annual Muslim festival which marks the end of the spiritual peak of the annual pilgrimage or Hajj in Arabic, said the UN chief. Ban called on Iraqi leaders to work for political unity and bring the country back from the brink of sectarian violence, said the statement. The UN chief extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the government of Iraq and wished the wounded a speedy recovery. According to the statement, the United Nations, including the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), will continue to support the government and people of Iraq in building a peaceful, democratic and prosperous country. Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, triggering fears that the country is sliding back to the full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007, when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000. The UNAMI said nearly 1,000 Iraqis were killed and more than 2, 100 wounded in acts of terrorism and violence last month.