BAGHDAD: Iraq’s deputy oil minister survived an assassination attempt yesterday as the Iraqi capital was hit by four bomb attacks that killed seven people and wounded at least 30 more.
Saheb Salman Qutub, who oversees the country’s crude oil production, was leaving his home in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Ataifiyah when the roadside bomb detonated, his ministry and police said.
Qutub was treated for minor injuries at a nearby hospital and discharged, a ministry statement said. His driver was seriously wounded and hospitalized.
The attack came after two almost simultaneous rush-hour bombings hit Baghdad’s central commercial district of Karrada, killing six people and wounding at least 20 others.
Security officials said insurgents had set the two bombs near the office of the police crime investigation unit.
In the city of Baquba, a car bomb exploded in a parking lot across the street from the provincial council, killing one policeman and injuring nine.
