(Vatican Radio) Gunmen killed 18 people working on a gas pipeline in northeastern
Iraq, just outside the town of Muqdadiya. The victims included 15 Iranians and three
Iraqis. Another eight were injured.
The gunmen opened fire on the workers
building a gas pipeline between Iraq and Iran. In July, Iran signed a deal agreeing
to build a pipeline to import gas into Iraq.
According to the United Nations,
violence in Iraq is at the highest level in five years, with more than 8,000 people
killed this year alone.
In separate incidents yesterday, at least five people
were killed and 14 wounded when a car bomb exploded in the outskirts of Baghdad. Another
six people were killed in a car bomb explosion in a town, also south of Baghdad.