Iraq violences kill 50

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BAGHDAD, SEPT 26 (AP): A wave of bombings and shootings swept Iraq Wednesday, killing at least 50 people and raising fears that al-Qaida had launched a promised new offensive. The US military acknowledged that violence was on the upswing and blamed it on the terror movement.
Also Wednesday, US and Iraqi officials announced that Iraqi and American troops raided the Iraqi military academy the day before and arrested cadets and instructors allegedly linked to the kidnap-slaying of the former superintendent and the abduction of his replacement, who was later freed.
Police reported at least six car bombings around the country Wednesday, an increase over the pattern of attacks in recent weeks, though US officials insisted that violence was still below levels of last year.
Wednesday's deadliest attack occurred when a suicide driver detonated an explosives-laden truck near the home of a Sunni Arab tribal leader near Sinjar, 390 kilometres (240 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
Hospital director Kifah Mohammed said 10 people were killed and nine wounded, including the sheik. The sheik's son, who worked as a government contractor, was killed, the director said. The US military said the sheik had spoken out against al-Qaida.
Six civilians were killed and 28 were wounded when a pair of car bombs exploded Wednesday evening in an outdoor market in Baghdad's southwestern district of Baiyaa, police said. Shiite militias have driven thousands of Sunnis from Baiyaa this year.
The private National Iraqi News Agency quoted an unnamed police official as saying 32 people were killed in the blast, but officers at two nearby police stations disputed the figure.
In Mosul, 360 kilometres (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad. a suicide car bomb struck a court building under construction, killing three people and wounding about 30, police said.
Three civilians died when a suicide car bomber attacked a police patrol in Mosul, police Brig. Gen. Saeed Ahmed al-Jubouri said.