Violence continues to spread throughout Iraq with at least 58 killed today and more than 200 wounded in violence around Baghdad alone.
Police found four people hung from electricity pylons in a Shi'ite slum Baghdad which fueled further fears of continuing sectarian violence. The four men were found in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, the site of a bloody assault on Sunday.
Meanwhile, bomb blasts rocked Baghdad on Monday both in the heart of the city and to the north of the capital. At least 11 people were killed and 40 wounded in these coordinated explosions that seemed to target Iraqi police stations.
One American soldier was killed Monday by a road side bomb in east Baghdad. A U.S. Marine was reported killed on Sunday in Anbar province. That brings the total number of American deaths in the war in Iraq to at least 2,308.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani accused terrorists of spreading the violence in an attempt to create a civil war. 'The way in which this bloody act was conducted leaves us with no doubt that the terrorists have targeted this peaceful neighborhood in order to ignite civil strife and stoke the fire of civil war,' Talabani said in a statement. 'So, it is the duty of the political groups to accelerate efforts to form the government, and the armed forces and security bodies should act swiftly to eliminate such crimes.'
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni political group, called on all sects in Iraq to come together 'in order to put an end to the bloodshed that has targeted all Iraqis of all religions and sects and to speed the formation of a national unity government that works for the security of citizens.'
Sunday, approximately 70 Iraqis were killed and more than 385 were injured in the violence centered in Sadr City. A car bomb also exploded in Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, killing at least six people and injuring 15 more. Five of the dead were Iraqi policemen.
Meanwhile, England announced that it would be reducing troop levels in Iraq by about 800 soldiers. That marks a reduction of approximately 10 percent. Great Britain presently has roughly 8,500 troops in Iraq. The reason for the withdrawal, according to British sources, is the increased capability of Iraqi security forces to control violence on their own.
