[h=3]By ALI A. NABHAN in Baghdad and SAM DAGHER in Beirut[/h]Dozens of Iraqis were killed or wounded in a series of bombs that rocked the capital Baghdad and adjacent provinces, according to security officials, replicating a pattern of multiple attacks on a single day that have been occurring every few weeks.
ReutersIraqi security personnel stand at the site of a bomb attack in Kut, 95 miles southeast of Baghdad, Sunday.
Like previous attacks including a barrage of bombings and assassinations three weeks ago, most of Sunday's bombings targeted Iraq's security forces and the Shiite majority. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the violence, but the al Qaeda-linked Sunni militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq vowed over the summer to topple the current Shiite-led government.
An official with the interior ministry said at least nine bombs attached to parked cars were detonated in Baghdad in the path of police and army patrols, while a suicide bomber driving an explosives-packed car drove into a security checkpoint in the predominantly Shiite city of Kut southeast of Baghdad. He said at least 26 people were killed and 59 others wounded in the attacks, which also included a car bomb at a Shiite shrine on the outskirts of the capital.
The latest round of bloodletting follows a major security lapse Friday in which dozens of inmates including convicted extremists suspected of ties to al Qaeda escaped from a prison in the predominantly Sunni city of Tikrit north of Baghdad after overpowering and killing some of their guards.
Sabhan Mullah Jiyad, a deputy provincial council chief in Tikrit, said more than 75 inmates remain on the run, adding that their escape was facilitated by some members of the police force responsible for the prison.
"Of course there was collusion," he said.
He said prison cells were unexpectedly opened Thursday evening hours after parliament members in Baghdad failed to reach agreement on an amnesty law that could see thousands of prisoners pardoned for the sake of national reconciliation.
Tensions between the Shiite-led government and Sunni communities across Iraq have increased since the departure of U.S. troops from the country in December. The conflict in neighboring Syria, where Sunni rebels are battling a Shiite-linked regime with the help of regional Sunni states such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, has also invigorated Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
Sunni grievances are also compounded by what they view as trumped up and politically motivated charges against Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni vice president. He was sentenced in absentia three weeks ago to death by hanging for allegedly ordering and funding attacks against Shiite officials. Although Mr. Hashemi has denied the charges, he remains outside the country and has been sheltered by the Turkish government since April.
In a move bound to fan further tensions between Turkish leaders and Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a defiant Mr. Hashemi on Sunday addressed a major annual congress for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party held in Ankara in the presence of several Arab and Muslim leaders.
Write to Sam Dagher at [email protected]
ReutersIraqi security personnel stand at the site of a bomb attack in Kut, 95 miles southeast of Baghdad, Sunday.
Like previous attacks including a barrage of bombings and assassinations three weeks ago, most of Sunday's bombings targeted Iraq's security forces and the Shiite majority. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the violence, but the al Qaeda-linked Sunni militant group known as the Islamic State of Iraq vowed over the summer to topple the current Shiite-led government.
An official with the interior ministry said at least nine bombs attached to parked cars were detonated in Baghdad in the path of police and army patrols, while a suicide bomber driving an explosives-packed car drove into a security checkpoint in the predominantly Shiite city of Kut southeast of Baghdad. He said at least 26 people were killed and 59 others wounded in the attacks, which also included a car bomb at a Shiite shrine on the outskirts of the capital.
The latest round of bloodletting follows a major security lapse Friday in which dozens of inmates including convicted extremists suspected of ties to al Qaeda escaped from a prison in the predominantly Sunni city of Tikrit north of Baghdad after overpowering and killing some of their guards.
Sabhan Mullah Jiyad, a deputy provincial council chief in Tikrit, said more than 75 inmates remain on the run, adding that their escape was facilitated by some members of the police force responsible for the prison.
"Of course there was collusion," he said.
He said prison cells were unexpectedly opened Thursday evening hours after parliament members in Baghdad failed to reach agreement on an amnesty law that could see thousands of prisoners pardoned for the sake of national reconciliation.
Tensions between the Shiite-led government and Sunni communities across Iraq have increased since the departure of U.S. troops from the country in December. The conflict in neighboring Syria, where Sunni rebels are battling a Shiite-linked regime with the help of regional Sunni states such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, has also invigorated Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
Sunni grievances are also compounded by what they view as trumped up and politically motivated charges against Tariq al-Hashemi, a Sunni vice president. He was sentenced in absentia three weeks ago to death by hanging for allegedly ordering and funding attacks against Shiite officials. Although Mr. Hashemi has denied the charges, he remains outside the country and has been sheltered by the Turkish government since April.
In a move bound to fan further tensions between Turkish leaders and Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a defiant Mr. Hashemi on Sunday addressed a major annual congress for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party held in Ankara in the presence of several Arab and Muslim leaders.
Write to Sam Dagher at [email protected]