IN one of the worst attacks this year in Iraq, 103 lives were lost after a spate of bombings across 13 cities in that country.
Nearly 200 people were also injured in the attacks which come days after a man purporting to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, warned that the militant group is reestablishing itself.
Pray for Iraq where the outbreak of violence sent a chilling warning that militant organization is slowly resurging in the security vacuum created since the departure of the U.S. military seven months ago.
The attacks across the cities appeared well coordinated. All the blasts happened within a few hours of each other. Almost all the attacks were aimed at security forces and government officials.
The worst attack happened in the town of Taji, about 12 miles north of the capital. Police said bombs planted around five houses in the Sunni town exploded an hour after dawn, killing 17.
Officers who rushed to the scene to help were hit by a suicide bomber in the crowd, killing another 11.
In a brazen attack on Iraq’s military, three carloads of gunmen pulled up at an army base near the northeast town of town of Udaim and started firing at forces.
Thirteen soldiers were killed, and the gunmen escaped before they could be caught, two senior police officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
The overall toll made it the deadliest day in Iraq since U.S. troops left in mid-December.
