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Shootings rise in run-up to election
There are signs security in Baghdad has been quietly deteriorating before next week's election, with a string of recent shootings adding to an increasingly tense atmosphere in the Iraqi capital.
With seven days to go before the critical national vote, levels of violence, much of which goes unreported in the media, may have risen significantly. According to an official at a leading Baghdad hospital, 67 victims of gunshot wounds were taken for treatment inside a 24-hour period on Thursday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, he said the number of shooting cases handled at al Kindi hospital had begun to rise at the end of last month.
"We saw the numbers of people with gunshot wounds going up three weeks ago," he said. "We started getting 10 to 20 a day. There have been more increases since then, and Thursday was the highest, we had 67 in.
"Some had been shot using silenced weapons, which is what happens with assassinations. This is new. Outside of the bombings, I've not seen anything on this scale since the sectarian war in 2007."