The Iraqi suicide attack death toll from this morning has risen to 87 dead, making it the deadliest day in Iraq this year. 28 people were killed in central Baghdad and over 50 wounded by a female suicide bomber. There was a piece of good news from the war-torn country: Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of an al Qaeda-linked umbrella group, was captured in Baghdad yesterday, CNN.
The United Nations is sending a relief team to Sri Lanka to help over 50,000 civilians caught in a civil war between the government and a rebel group, the Tamil Tigers. Doctors Without Borders volunteers told BBC News that the hospitals in the area are overflowing, with one hospital having 400 beds for 2,000 injured or sick people, BBC News.
Turkey and Armenia have agreed to work on fixing their strained relations. The two countries have been on the outs for decades, notably because Turkey refuses to recognize the 1915 genocide of over a million Ottoman Armenians. The statement from Turkey’s Foreign Minister did not say how they would mend relations, but did say Switzerland was acting as a mediator, NY Times.
The AP is saying Iraq’s own tally has recorded 87,215 civilians dead since 2005, at a minimum. The tally only includes violent deaths, such as bombings, execution-style shootings, and beheadings. The numbers put the total of deaths since the U.S. war started in 2003 well over 100,000, NPR.
The Daily Brief 