At least 55 people have been killed across Iraq in attacks mostly aimed at security forces. Iraqi officials said insurgents were making “frantic attempts” to show civilians that their country was doomed to violence for years to come.
The apparently co-ordinated bombings and shootings unfolded over a few hours in Baghdad, where most of the deaths occurred, and 11 other cities. They struck government offices and restaurants, and one in the town of Musayyib exploded close to a primary school. At least 225 people were wounded.
If the insurgents’ goal was to show Iraqis how precarious their situation is, it appeared to be working.
“What is happening today are … is a huge security failure and disaster,” said Ahmed al-Tamimi, who was working at an education ministry office a block away from a restaurant that was bombed in the Shia neighbourhood of Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad. He described a hellish scene of human flesh and pools of blood at the restaurant.