Kut: Iraqis on Monday were furious at security officials and Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki following more than dozen bomb blasts across Iraq in the worst attack this year, one that highlighted Al Qaida's resolve and ability to wreak havoc.
"Where is the government with all these explosions across the country? Where is Al Maliki? Why doesn't he come to see?" said Ali Juma'a Ziad, a shopowner in Kut, where the worst of the violence occurred. Ziad was brushing pieces of human flesh from the floor and off equipment in his shop.
Al Maliki's spokesman and the military spokesman did not answer tele-phone calls.
Twin explosions rocked the market in Kut, 160 kilometres southeast of Baghdad, where Ziad works.
The bloodbath comes less than two weeks after Iraqi officials said they would be open to a small number of US forces staying in the country past a December 31 withdrawal deadline.
Coordinated
The blasts were coordinated to go off yesterday morning and included parked car bombs, roadside bombs, a suicide bomber driving a vehicle that rammed into a police station and even bombs attached to lightpoles.
The scope of the violence — seven explosions went off in different towns in Diyala province alone — emphasised that insurgents are still able to carry out attacks despite repeated crackdowns by Iraqi and US forces.
Earlier this month, Iraqi political leaders announced they would begin negotiations with the US to determine whether to keep a small number of American forces in the country past December 31.
All US troops must leave by the end of this year, but both Iraqi and US officials have expressed concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect the country.
Theodore Karasik, a Middle East security expert at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analyst, said Al Qaida in Iraq is trying to disrupt the internal Iraqi political process and send a message to the Americans.
"It seems that Al Qaida in Iraq is playing a propaganda game at the same time it's trying to show that it can still carry out deadly violence," Karasik said.
Brutal attacks
Here is a list of the worst attacks to hit Iraq in 2011.
January
- 18: A suicide attack against a police recruitment centre in Tikrit kills 50 and wounds 150 others.
- 20: 50 killed in nationwide attacks, including 45 in twin suicide car bombings in Karbala as pilgrims mark a holy day.
- 27: A series of attacks across Baghdad kill 53, including 48 who died when a car bomb struck a condolence ceremony in a Shiite district of the capital.
February
- 12: A suicide attack against a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims near Samarra kills 33.
March
- 29: A massive attack mounted by Al Qaida commandos against provincial government offices in Tikrit kills 58 and injures 97.
May
- 5: A suicide car bomb against a police station in Hilla kills 24 policemen. The attack is claimed by Al Qaida's front group, the Islamic State of Iraq.
- 19: Three attacks in Kirkuk kill 29 people, mostly policemen.
June
- 3: A bomb attack against a mosque in central Tikrit followed by a suicide attack against a hospital where victims were being treated leave 24 dead.
- 21: Twin suicide attacks against the governor of southern Diwaniyah province kill 26. The governor was unharmed.
- 23: Three attacks in Baghdad kill 24.
July
- 5: Twin suicide attacks in Taji kill 35 people.
August
- 15: At least 66 people are killed in nationwide attacks in 17 cities.
