Car bombs in Baghdad, south Iraq kill at least 40

Civilians react at the site of a car bomb attack in front of a crowded popular restaurant in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 20, 2013. Two car bombings in the southern city of Basra, killing and wounding dozens of people, police said. Iraq has seen a spike of attacks, including bombings hitting both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the last week. (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)

Iraqi security force members and civilians gather at the site of a car bomb attack in front of a crowded popular restaurant in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, May 20, 2013. Two car bombings in the southern city of Basra, killing and wounding dozens of people, police said. Iraq has seen a spike of attacks, including bombings hitting both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the last week. (AP Photo/ Nabil al-Jurani)

BAGHDAD (AP) — A wave of car bombings across Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods and in the southern city of Basra killed at least 40 people on Monday, striking at market places and crowded bus stops during the busy morning hours, officials said.

The attacks are the latest in a recent spike of bombings that has hit both Sunni and Shiite civilian targets over the past week. The bloodshed has raised fears of a return to the widespread sectarian violence of 2006-2007 that brought the country to the edge of civil war.

In the Iraqi capital, nine car bombs went off at bus stops, open-air markets and in the streets of Shiite areas, killing 27 people and wounding 116, according to police officials.

The deadliest attacks came in the northern Sabi al-Boor neighborhood and in Baghdad's eastern suburb of Kamaliya. Seven people were killed in each of those attacks.

In the southern city of Basra, two car bombs — one near a restaurant and the other at the city's main bus station — killed at least 13 and wounded 40, according to the provincial police spokesman, Col. Abdul-Karim al-Zaidi, and the head of city's health directorate, Riadh Abdul-Amir.

The blast at the Basra bus station ripped through food stalls that serve falafel and eggs to travelers. Slippers lay scattered on the bloodstained pavement.

A Basra resident, Talib Dakhil, said he was at the station when the explosion went off. "This will not discourage us from continuing out life," he said. "We will continue challenging terrorism, whatever happens."

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts but such large-scale bombings bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Hospital officials in Baghdad and Basra confirmed the casualty tolls. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

In Baghdad, Malik Ibrahim blamed the government and political parties for the bloodshed and the lack of security in the country.

"How long do we have to continue living like this, with all the lies from the government," asked the 23-year-old Baghdad resident. "Whenever they say they have reached a solution, the bombings come back stronger than before."

"We're fed up with them and we can't tolerate this anymore," he added.

Tensions have been intensifying in Iraq since the country's minority since Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government, including random detentions and neglect.

The protests, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in the country's north on April 23.

Majority Shiites control the levers of power in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.

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Associated Press writer Nabil Al-Jurani in Basra contributed to this report.

Report: 23 Hezbollah members killed in Syria

This citizen journalism image provided by Qusair Lens which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrian rebels preparing to repel a coordinated attack by government forces, in Qusair, Homs province, Syria, Sunday, May 19, 2013. Syrian troops backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault Sunday on a strategic rebel-held town near the Lebanese border, pounding the area with airstrikes and artillery salvos that killed tens of people and forced residents to scramble for cover in basements and makeshift bunkers, activists said. (AP Photo/Qusair Lens)

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government forces pushed deeper into a strategic opposition-held town near the Lebanese border Monday, battling rebels in fierce street fighting, state-media reported. An activist group said at least 23 elite fighters from Lebanon'sHezbollah militant group fighting alongside regime troops have been killed in the clashes.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks Syria's civil war, said that more than 100 Hezbollah members also have been wounded in the fighting around the town of Qusair. If confirmed, the casualties would be a significant blow to the Shiite group, which has come under harsh criticism at home in Lebanon for its involvement in the war next door.

A staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah is heavily invested in the survival of the Damascus regime and is known to have sent fighters to aid government forces. The Lebanese group's growing role in the conflict also points to the deeply sectarian nature of the war in Syria, in which a rebellion driven by the country's Sunni majority seeks to overthrow a regime dominated by the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The Observatory, which relies on a wide network of activists in the ground in Syria, cited "sources close to the militant group" for the death toll but declined to reveal their identity. It said at least 50 Syrian rebels were also killed in the battle for Qusair on Sunday, including two commanders.

Qusair has been the target of a withering government offensive in recent weeks, and the countryside around the town has been engulfed in fighting as regime troops backed by Hezbollah fighters seized villages as they closed in on Qusair itself. The opposition estimates that some 40,000 civilians are currently in the town.

The intensity of the fighting reflects the importance that both sides attach to the area. In the regime's calculations, Qusair lies along a strategic land corridor linking Damascus with the Mediterranean coast, the Alawite heartland. For the rebels, overwhelmingly Sunni Qusair has served as a conduit for shipments of weapons and supplies smuggled from Lebanon to opposition fighters inside Syria.

Regime troops and Hezbollah fighters, who laid siege to Qusair weeks ago, launched an offensive to regain control of the town, with Hezbollah's elite fighters advancing from the east and south, an opposition figure said.

He added that Hezbollah troops took control of the main square and the municipal building in the center of the town in a few hours. By the end of the day Sunday, they pushed out rebel units, including the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, from most of Qusair, he added Monday on condition of anonymity, for fear of retaliation by both sides.

He said fighting was focused in the northern part of the town on Monday.

The account matched that of Syria's state news media, which said President Bashar Assad's troops took control of most of Qusair on Monday. State-run TV said forces restored stability to the entire eastern front of the town, killing scores of terrorists there.

An official in the Homs governor's office told the AP on Monday that more than 60 percent of the city is in government hands after scores of gunmen were killed or surrendered Sunday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to give information to the media during an ongoing military operation, more than 1,500 resident fled the city due to intensified fighting.

Qusair-based opposition activist Hadi Abdullah denied official reports that the army was advancing in the town, saying they were still trying to storm it.

"They go in and out, until now I can say with confidence that they have not been able to enter the town and stay there," Abdullah said.

Hezbollah members have made use of their expertise in guerrilla tactics to significantly boost regime forces in the fight for Qusair. Their presence, along with that of Hezbollah-backed Shiite fighters, is meant to shore up overstretched troops fighting on several other fronts.

Residents on the Lebanese side of the border just across from Qusair reported seeing more than 30 plumes of smoke billowing from inside Syria and hearing the heavy thud of artillery and airstrikes late into the night Sunday and on Monday morning.

"Nobody could sleep last night from the sounds of battle," said Ali Jaafar, deputy mayor of the Lebanese border town of Hermel, adding that residents did not send children to school Monday for fear of fighting spilling over into Lebanon.

Lebanese security officials confirmed at least four funerals were being held Monday morning for Hezbollah fighters or their supporters killed in Syria. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military regulations.

Army units "restored security and stability" to most of the city on Monday and killed "many terrorists," the majority of them foreign fighters who have been fighting alongside opposition forces, the state news agency said. The military also destroyed rebel hideouts and seized "large amounts of weapons and ammunition," it said, adding that government troops are fighting pockets of resistance in southern and northern districts of Qusair Monday.

The Syrian regime claims there is no civil war in the country but that the army is fighting foreign-backed terrorists trying to topple Assad's government.

More than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011.

At least 1.5 million Syrian who fled civil war have sought shelter in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, while millions more have been displaced inside Syria and are in urgent need of basic aid, according to the United Nations.

The international aid organization Oxfam appealed for more funds to help Syrian refugees, saying warmer weather will increase health risks due to lack of shelter, water and basic sanitation in Lebanon and Jordan. The Britain-based group said in a statement Monday that diarrhea and skin infections have already been noted among refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The two countries host the bulk of 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

In addition to funds, aid organizations have also complained of a lack of access to civilians in areas most affected by fighting, saying that government bureaucracy often delays convoys for weeks from reaching civilians in dire need of basic supplies.

In a statement Monday, the International Committee of the Red Cross condemned the killing of a driver for the group's affiliate branch in northern Syria. The ICRC said Abdo Darwish, a driver for the Red Crescent Society in Hassakeh was killed May 14 on his way to work. He was wearing his Syrian Red Crescent uniform, "clearly indicating his affiliation with the Movement, when he was targeted by snipers," the ICRC said.

Syrian civil war has claimed the lives of 20 Red Crescent volunteers, the statement said, adding that all of those who died had been killed while carrying out their humanitarian duties.

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Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed to this report.

Suicide bomber kills 14 at Afghan province council

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform killed 14 people including a prominent provincial council chief outside the council headquarters in northern Afghanistan on Monday, authorities said. The Taliban insurgency quickly claimed responsibility.

Seeking to weaken the Afghan government, Taliban insurgents have been carrying out attacks and assassinations intended to intimidate both officials and civilians ahead of next year's withdrawal of most international troops.

Baghlan provincial council leader Mohammad Rasoul Mohseni was entering the compound in the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri in the morning when the bomber approached on foot and detonated his explosives, said Baghlan chief of police Asadullah Sherzad.

The attacker was dressed in police uniform and blended with officers at a checkpoint near the council headquarters, then slipped into a group of people surrounding Mohseni and set off his bomb in the crowd, said Baghlan deputy police chief Mohammad Sadeq Muradi.

"He was basically waiting for his target, who was Rasoul Mohseni," Muradi said.

Two of Mohseni's police bodyguards, four checkpoint police and seven civilians were killed in the blast, he said. It was unclear whether the attacker was actually a member of Afghan security forces or an insurgent who bought or stole a uniform.

Mohammad Zahier Ghanizada, a member of parliament from Baghlan, said that Mohseni had previously received multiple death threats.

A well-known figure in Baghlan, Mohseni was previously a respected commander in the Northern Alliance that fought against the Taliban's hard-line regime before it was toppled in 2001. He comes from a prominent family in the province, and his brother Azim Mohseni is a member of parliament.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed in a text message to journalists that an insurgent operative carried out the targeted bombing.

"Today at 11 a.m. in front of the Baghlan provincial council office, we have carried out a suicide attack and killed the head of the council," it said.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing Monday.

"Such attacks are against all human rights and the principles of Islam," Karzai said in a statement. "Perpetrators of such attacks are enemies of the Afghan nation and the puppets of foreigners."

Karzai left later Monday for a two-day state visit to India, where he is expected to request military aid.

Both Karzai and the U.S. have sought peace talks with the Taliban and other insurgent factions in preparation for most foreign troops leaving next year after more than 12 years of war, but the efforts have borne little fruit. The Taliban seek to re-establish the strict interpretation of Islamic law they imposed for five years before being ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion over its sheltering of al-Qaida's leadership.

The insurgents last month launched a fierce new spring offensive. On Monday, Taliban forces attacked several police checkpoints in the southern province of Helmand, and fighting raged on all day and into the night, both insurgents and police said.

Helmand's deputy police chief, Ghulam Rabbani, said the fighting was in heavily contested Sangin district and there were casualties on both sides. He expected the clashes to continue overnight.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the insurgents had wrested control of six police checkpoints, but Helmand government officials denied that.

The insurgents also are pushing an assassination and bombing campaign that has in the past week alone seen the police chief of Farah province gunned down outside his home and twin blasts kill nine people in an elite gated community for government officials and business owners outside of the southern city of Kandahar. Two bombs also exploded outside the provincial governor's office in Nangarhar province last week, killing one police guard.

Insurgents have also targeted members of the international coalition. A roadside bomb killed four American soldiers last week in the country's south, while another insurgent faction, Hizb-e-Islami, targeted a coalition convoy in the capital of Kabul two days later, killing two U.S. soldiers and four American contractors who were training Afghan troops to take over security.

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