93 slain across Iraq in last two days

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93 slain across Iraq in last two days

BAGHDAD (AP) — A minibus exploded Monday in a Baghdad market, killing at least six people — a brutal reminder of the dangers facing Iraqis, who only hours ago were joyously united after their underdog national soccer team won the prestigious Asian Cup.
The U.S. military also said three soldiers had been killed in fighting in Anbar province west of Baghdad on Thursday. The deaths raised to at least 3,651 members of the U.S. military who have died since the start of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

At least 93 people were killed or found dead across Iraq over the last two days.

In political developments, the largest Sunni Arab bloc said the government's response to its demands and threat to pull out of the Cabinet this week slammed the door to reforms.

The Iraq Accordance Front, which has six Cabinet members and 44 of parliament's 275 seats, has suspended its membership in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government and threatened to quit altogether this week if he doesn't meet certain demands.

The move would plunge the U.S.-backed government deeper into crisis as parliament prepares to begin a month-long break in August without passing key legislation demanded by Washington to promote national unity and stem support for the Sunni-led insurgency.

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NGOs: One-third of Iraqis need immediate aid

LONDON (AP) — About 8 million Iraqis — nearly a third of the population — need immediate emergency aid because of the humanitarian crisis caused by the war, relief agencies said Monday.
Those Iraqis are in urgent need of water, sanitation, food and shelter, said the report by Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee network in Iraq.

The report said 15% of Iraqis cannot regularly afford to eat, and 70% are without adequate water supplies, up from 50% in 2003. It also said 28% of children are malnourished, compared with 19% before the 2003 invasion.

"Basic services, ruined by years of war and sanctions, cannot meet the needs of the Iraqi people," said Jeremy Hobbs, the director of Oxfam International. "Millions of Iraqis have been forced to flee the violence, either to another part of Iraq or abroad. Many of those are living in dire poverty."

The report said more than 2 million people — mostly women and children — have been displaced within Iraq, and 2 million Iraqis have fled the country as refugees, mostly to neighboring Syria and Jordan.

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