BAGHDAD ? A wave of bombings across Iraq killed dozens of people Thursday morning, security officials said, in a grim indication of the strength of the insurgency two months after the U.S. military completed its withdrawal.
The majority of attacks, which were carried out with car bombs and small arms, appeared to target security forces in the capital and other cities, authorities said. At least 52 people were killed and more than 220 people were wounded, according to death tolls provided by local security officials.
While Thursday was not the deadliest day in Iraq since American forces completed their departure in late December, the attacks represented the most widespread operation carried out by suspected Sunni insurgents that have sought for years to topple the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
The victims included several civilians, including some schoolchildren, security officials said.
The carnage followed a relatively quiet period in Baghdad and other normally violent cities, a lull that had led some Iraqis to speculate that Sunni insurgents had flooded into neighboring Syria to join the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
While no group took responsibility for the carnage, the attacks bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which in the past has carried out coordinated, complex attacks.
In the Adhamiyah district of northern Baghdad, assailants raised the black flag of the Islamic State of Iraq, the umbrella organization that includes the local al-Qaeda group, according to security officials.
Londo�o reported from Irbil, Iraq. Special correspondent Aziz Alwan in Irbil contributed to this report.
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=696f04a08826962bc2bd7562cd1f65d2
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