Puncturing more than a week of relative quiet, militants launched an
extensive wave of attacks on Iraqi security forces and Shiite Muslim
civilians on Monday, killing dozens in a relentless spree of shootings
and bombings from the morning to the afternoon.
At least 72 Iraqis were killed and more than 200
were injured in the violence, which included a triple bombing of a
textile factory in Hillah — 66 miles south of the capital — that killed
at least 32 workers and passersby during a shift change. More than 136
also were injured in the blast.
It was the bloodiest day in
The violence suggested the continued potency of the
insurgency just days after Iraqi and American forces celebrated the
capture and killings of key al-Qaeda figures. It is also a part of an
uptick in violence following inconclusive
The Obama administration plans to pull all but 50,000 U.S. troops from
The violence cut across a swath of
insurgents throughout the day targeted at least a dozen police and army
checkpoints in apparently coordinated bombings and shootings, sometimes
using silencers.
All told, at least 23 people, including at least 10
soldiers and police officers, were killed and 55 were wounded in the
attacks on the capital and neighboring
Another car bomb targeting the public market in the
mostly Shiite town of Sweira, 30 miles south of the capital, killed 11
and injured dozens, police said.
Three others in Hillah were killed in three separate
bombings, targeting an army patrol, a shop and a bus terminal,
according to civil defense officials.
In the northern city of
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