Nearly 70 people were killed in Iraq Monday when a series of coordinated bomb attacks unleashed terror in more than a dozen cities. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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The explosions rocked cities in the north, such Kirkuk, as well as to the south, including Najaf and Karbala, officials said. Even Baghdad was targeted.
The blasts were coordinated to go off in the morning. They included a combination of car bombs, roadside bombs and a suicide bomber who rammed a vehicle into a police station.
At least 13 bombs are believed to have exploded throughout Iraq, mostly targeting Iraqi security forces, CNN reported.
One attack, however, believed to be the worst, struck civilians in the city of Kut, in eastern Iraq.
More than 30 people were killed there when a car bomb exploded, which was then followed by detonation of a roadside device. Both blew up during the city’s morning rush hour, authorities said. The brutal attack left 68 people wounded, officials told CNN.
The attacks happened just short of two weeks after Iraqi officials announced they would consider having a small number of U.S. forces remain in the country past a Dec. 31 deadline for troop withdrawal.
The scope of the violence emphasized that insurgents still have the ability to coordinate and carry out lethal attacks despite repeated crackdowns by Iraqi and U.S. forces.
Theodore Karasik, a Middle East security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, told the Associated Press that al-Qaida in Iraq is aiming to wreak havoc to deliver a message to the U.S.
“It seems that al-Qaida in Iraq is playing a propaganda game at the same time it’s trying to show that it can still carry out deadly violence,” Karasik said. “If the U.S. extends its military presence, al-Qaida in Iraq can use it as a tool by saying, ‘Look, the Americans have reversed their decision to leave and are staying on as occupiers.’ They could use this as a justification for more attacks.”
Eight people were killed by a car bomb in the city of Twareej; 20 others were also wounded.
Suicide bombers killed four policemen and wounded 11 others in Tikrit.
Just outside the holy city of Najaf, a suicide car-bomber plowed his vehicle into a checkpoint outside a police building, said Luay al-Yassiri, head of the Najaf province security committee.
Police opened fire on the vehicle when the driver refused to stop, and then the vehicle exploded. Al-Yassiri said four people – including two policemen – were killed and 32 injured.
In Baghdad, a parked car exploded near a convoy carrying officials from the Ministry of Higher Education, said police and health officials. Eight people were wounded.
The scope of the violence emphasized that insurgents still have the ability to coordinate and carry out lethal attacks despite repeated crackdowns by Iraqi and U.S. forces.
Despite Monday’s wave of violence, such attacks have dropped considerably in Iraq since the heyday of the war, when deadly explosions occurred almost daily.
