[h=3]By ASSOCIATED PRESS[/h]BAGHDAD—An onslaught of bombings and shootings killed scores of people across Iraq on Monday, officials said.
The Associated Press put the total number of dead at 93, which would make today the nation's deadliest day so far this year.
The attacks come days after the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq warned in a statement that the militant group is reorganizing in areas from which it retreated before U.S. troops left the country last December.
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAn Iraqi soldier looks at the burning shell of a car, one of a series of car bombs targeting army and police patrols in Kirkuk on Monady.
Monday's violence in 13 Iraqi cities and towns appeared coordinated: The blasts all took place within a few hours of each other. They struck mostly at security forces and government officials—two of al Qaeda's favorite targets in Iraq.
"It was a thunderous explosion," said Mohammed Munim, 35, who was working at an Interior Ministry office that issues government identification cards to residents in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighborhood when a car exploded outside. 16 people were killed in the single attack.
"The only thing I remember was the smoke and fire, which was everywhere, said Munim from his bed in the emergency room at Sadr City hospital. He was hit by shrapnel in his neck and back.
The worst attack happened in the town of Taji, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital. Police said bombs planted around five houses in the Sunni town exploded an hour after dawn, followed by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives belt in the crowd of police who rushed to help. In all, 41 people were killed, police said.
And 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 weren't authorized to release the information.
The overall toll made Monday the deadliest day in Iraq since U.S. troops left in mid-December. Before Monday, the deadliest day was Jan. 5, when a wave of bombings targeting Shiites killed 78 people in Baghdad and outside the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Last weekend, the leader of al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq warned that the militant network is returning to strongholds from which it was driven while the American military was here.
"The majority of the Sunnis in Iraq support al Qaeda and are waiting for its return," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq since 2010, said in the statement that was posted on a militant website.
The Associated Press put the total number of dead at 93, which would make today the nation's deadliest day so far this year.
The attacks come days after the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq warned in a statement that the militant group is reorganizing in areas from which it retreated before U.S. troops left the country last December.
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesAn Iraqi soldier looks at the burning shell of a car, one of a series of car bombs targeting army and police patrols in Kirkuk on Monady.
Monday's violence in 13 Iraqi cities and towns appeared coordinated: The blasts all took place within a few hours of each other. They struck mostly at security forces and government officials—two of al Qaeda's favorite targets in Iraq.
"It was a thunderous explosion," said Mohammed Munim, 35, who was working at an Interior Ministry office that issues government identification cards to residents in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City neighborhood when a car exploded outside. 16 people were killed in the single attack.
"The only thing I remember was the smoke and fire, which was everywhere, said Munim from his bed in the emergency room at Sadr City hospital. He was hit by shrapnel in his neck and back.
The worst attack happened in the town of Taji, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the capital. Police said bombs planted around five houses in the Sunni town exploded an hour after dawn, followed by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives belt in the crowd of police who rushed to help. In all, 41 people were killed, police said.
And 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 weren't authorized to release the information.
The overall toll made Monday the deadliest day in Iraq since U.S. troops left in mid-December. Before Monday, the deadliest day was Jan. 5, when a wave of bombings targeting Shiites killed 78 people in Baghdad and outside the southern city of Nasiriyah.
Last weekend, the leader of al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq warned that the militant network is returning to strongholds from which it was driven while the American military was here.
"The majority of the Sunnis in Iraq support al Qaeda and are waiting for its return," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq since 2010, said in the statement that was posted on a militant website.