Police: Attacks around Iraq kill 9 people.

A police officer inspects a police vehicle destroyed by a car
 bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, on July 15, 2013

BAGHDAD  | AP | 15 Jul 2013 ::  Attacks across Iraq killed nine people on Monday, including a 10-year-old boy out swimming with friends, in the latest in a surge of violence rocking Iraq during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Violence in Iraq is now at its deadliest level in half a decade, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread bloodshed that pushed the country to the edge of civil war. More than 2,800 people have been killed since the start of April.

Police said Monday's deadliest attack was a mortar barrage near a group of people trying to escape the blistering summer heat by swimming in the Tigris River near Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Four people were killed in the mortar shelling, including the boy, and 11 others were wounded, police said.

Temperatures in Baghdad soared above 115 degrees.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, a car bomb went off near a passing security patrol, killing a policeman and wounding 11 other people, including four civilians.

The blast left a crater six feet wide near the side of the road, and the charred hull of the blue police pickup truck lay mangled in the street.

Hours later, a suicide bomber slammed his explosives-laden car into an army checkpoint near Kirkuk, killing two soldiers, according to Lt. Gen. Mohammed Khalaf, a senior military commander in the city.

More than 140 people have been killed since Muslims in Iraq began observing Ramadan on Wednesday.

The American and British Embassies each issued statements Monday condemning the daily rash of attacks.

"That these attacks have taken place during the holy month of Ramadan, a time for charity and compassion is especially disturbing," said Britain's charge d'affaires in Iraq, Robert Deane. "This continued violence is clearly intended to fuel sectarian strife and destabilize the country."

Pious Muslims go without food, drink, smoking and sex in the daytime during the holy month, when feelings of spiritual devotion are high. In the years following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the start of Ramadan often also brought a wave of insurgent attacks — a pattern being repeated this year.

In other violence on Monday, police said gunmen sprayed a security checkpoint with bullets just south of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding four others.

Hospital officials confirmed the death toll. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Monday's attacks came a day after a wave of coordinated bombings in mostly Shiite cities and other attacks left at least 38 dead and scores wounded.(Courtesy:USA TODAY)

Firing kills four in Quetta: police.

A Google Maps image showing the location
 of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province

QUETTA | SYED ALI SHAH | 15 Jul 2013 ::  At least four people were killed Monday evening when armed men opened fire at a vehicle in Quetta, the capital of insurgency-hit Balochistan province.

Fayyaz Sumbal, the Deputy Inspector General Police, said four militants opened fire at the vehicle on Masjid road area of Quetta.

All four men sitting in the vehicle were seriously wounded and succumbed to their injuries on their way to the Combined Military Hospital, he said.

The attackers managed to escape after the attack, he added

Police said the victims belonged to the ethnic Hazara community and were attacked when they were shutting down their shop.

A large number of police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel cordoned off the area and started investigation into the incident.(Courtesy:Dawn)

Police move past barricades in Istanbul square.

    AP

Riot police chase anti-government 

protesters in central Ankara June 

11, 2013. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan

 has agreed to meet on Wednesday with

 leaders of the movement whose peaceful

 protests in Istanbul spiralled into a wave

 of anti-government demonstrations

 across Turkey.—Photo by Reuters

ISTANBUL|11|June|2013:: Hundreds of police clad in riot gear pushed easily past barricades in Istanbul's central Taskin Square early Tuesday, and many of the protesters who had occupied the square for more than a week were pushed into a nearby park.

Police briefly fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets prompting many of the protesters to flee the square into Gezi Park, where many had been camping.

Some of the activists fired fireworks, fire bombs and stones at police water cannon.

Earlier, demonstrators had manned the barricades and prepared for a possible intervention when officers began massing in the area.

Police began taking down large banners that had been hung by protesters on a large building on the edge of the square, replacing them with a large Turkish flag and a banner with the picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the beloved founder of the secular republic 89 years ago after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey's most widespread anti-government protests in decades erupted on May 31 after a violent police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in by protesters objecting to a project replacing the park with a replica Ottoman-era barracks.

Prior to the police action, the protests appeared to be diminishing, with the smallest number of demonstrators in the past 12 days gathering in Taksim on Monday night. The protesters occupying Gezi Park had remained, however.

Smaller protests occurred in Ankara too, with about 5,000 people demonstrating. Police there have used water cannon and tear gas to break up demonstrations almost every night.

Three people have died and more than 5,000 have been treated for injuries or the effects of gas during the protests. The government says 600 police officers have also been injured.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said he would meet with the Gezi Park protesters on Wednesday, following a request by some of the protesters.(Courtesy:Dawn)