Baghdad: Bombers and gunmen seen as linked to a battered but still lethal Al Qaida killed at least 99 people on Monday in a day-long wave of attacks on markets, a textile factory, checkpoints and other sites across Iraq.
The attacks in far-flung locations including Baghdad and towns in the south, north and west of the capital appeared aimed at showing Iraqis that insurgents were still a potent force even after battlefield defeats in recent weeks.
"Despite strong strikes that broke Al Qaida, there are some cells still working, attempting to prove their existence and their influence," said Baghdad's security spokesman, Major General Qasim Al Mousawi, calling the attacks "hysterical".
The attackers exploited the political disarray that followed a March 7 election that produced no outright winner and pitted a cross-sectarian bloc backed by minority Sunnis against two major Shiite-led coalitions.
Major campaign
Two months on, results have not been certified after an election that Iraqis hoped would deliver stable governance as US troops prepare to withdraw more than seven years after ousting dictator Saddam Hussain.
In the bloodiest incident yesterday, two suicide car bombers drove into the entrance of a textile factory as workers were ending a shift in the town of Hilla, 62km south of Baghdad, a regional office of the national media centre said.
At least 45 people died and 140 were wounded, hospital and police officials said.
Later in the evening, two explosions killed 15 people in Basra.
