55 dead in coordinated attacks across Iraq
Source: Agencies |
February 24, 2012, Friday
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A RAPID series of attacks spread over a wide swath of Iraq killed at least 55 people yesterday, targeting mostly security forces in what Iraqi officials called "frantic attempts" by insurgents to show civilians that their country was doomed to violence for years to come.
The apparently coordinated bombings and shootings unfolded over hours in the capital Baghdad - where most of the deaths occurred - and 11 other cities. They struck government offices, restaurants and one in the town of Musayyib hit close to a primary school. At least 225 people were wounded.
It was the latest of a series of large-scale attacks that insurgents have launched every few weeks since the last United States troops left Iraq in mid-December at the end of a nearly nine-year war.
The Interior Ministry blamed al-Qaida insurgents for the violence.
"These attacks are part of frantic attempts by the terrorist groups to show that the security situation in Iraq will not ever be stable," the ministry said in a statement. "These attacks are part of al-Qaida efforts to deliver a message to its supporters that al-Qaida is still operating inside Iraq, and it has the ability to launch strikes inside the capital or other cities and towns."
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, but targeting security officials is a hallmark of al-Qaida.
Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for a similar strike on January 5 that killed 78 people and mostly targeted Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad, in what was the worst day of violence to shake Iraq in months.
A senior Iraqi defense intelligence official said yesterday's attacks appeared to have been planned for at least one month. He predicted they were aimed at frightening diplomats from attending the Arab League's annual summit that is scheduled to be held in Baghdad in late March.
Similar fears were part of the reason the League meeting was canceled in Baghdad last year.
Nationwide, security forces appeared to be targeted in at least 14 separate attacks, including a drive-by shooting in Baghdad that killed six policemen at a checkpoint before dawn. Police patrols in the capital and beyond also were besieged by roadside bombs and, in one case, a suicide bomber blew up his car outside a police station in the city of Baqouba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.
The apparently coordinated bombings and shootings unfolded over hours in the capital Baghdad - where most of the deaths occurred - and 11 other cities. They struck government offices, restaurants and one in the town of Musayyib hit close to a primary school. At least 225 people were wounded.
It was the latest of a series of large-scale attacks that insurgents have launched every few weeks since the last United States troops left Iraq in mid-December at the end of a nearly nine-year war.
The Interior Ministry blamed al-Qaida insurgents for the violence.
"These attacks are part of frantic attempts by the terrorist groups to show that the security situation in Iraq will not ever be stable," the ministry said in a statement. "These attacks are part of al-Qaida efforts to deliver a message to its supporters that al-Qaida is still operating inside Iraq, and it has the ability to launch strikes inside the capital or other cities and towns."
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, but targeting security officials is a hallmark of al-Qaida.
Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for a similar strike on January 5 that killed 78 people and mostly targeted Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad, in what was the worst day of violence to shake Iraq in months.
A senior Iraqi defense intelligence official said yesterday's attacks appeared to have been planned for at least one month. He predicted they were aimed at frightening diplomats from attending the Arab League's annual summit that is scheduled to be held in Baghdad in late March.
Similar fears were part of the reason the League meeting was canceled in Baghdad last year.
Nationwide, security forces appeared to be targeted in at least 14 separate attacks, including a drive-by shooting in Baghdad that killed six policemen at a checkpoint before dawn. Police patrols in the capital and beyond also were besieged by roadside bombs and, in one case, a suicide bomber blew up his car outside a police station in the city of Baqouba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.
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