[] [BTBBT Daily]VIDEO: 18 KILLED IN IRAQ’S DIYALA PROVINCE

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Two attacks in Iraq’s eastern province of Diyala have left 18 people dead and 31 others wounded.

The first was a car bomb explosion killing 10 people and wounding 25 in Khalis town. The attack took place at a crowded vegetable market, causing damages to several nearby shops. The other attack took place in al-Jeel, a village in the same province, killing eight and wounding six others. Unidentified gunmen stormed the houses of two brothers, one of whom was a member of a local Awakening Council group, which includes powerful anti-U.S. Sunni insurgent groups.

Authorities dispatched special forces to secure the scene, amid heightened security concerns as the Iraqi government staged a major ceremony to mark the end of the American military presence in Iraq.