[An Nahar] Dozens of attacks across Iraq on Monday, including a brazen boom-mobileing en route to Storied Baghdad...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
airport, killed at least 24 people just days before the country's first elections since US troops withdrew.
The violence, which struck during morning rush hour amid tightened security ahead of the polls, also maimed more than 210 people and raises further questions about the credibility of the April 20 vote, seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and its security forces' capabilities.
A total of 14 election hopefuls have already been murdered and just 12 of the country's 18 provinces will be taking part.
Officials said 20 boom-mobiles went
kaboom!Monday in Storied Baghdad, the northern cities of Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
Tuz Khurmatu, djinn-infested Mosul and Tikrit, the central city of Samarra, and Hilla and Nasiriyah south of Storied Baghdad.
Roadside bombs also hit Baquba, north of the capital, and there was a shooting near Storied Baghdad.
No group immediately grabbed credit for the attacks, but Sunni snuffies linked to Al-Qaeda frequently attack both government targets and civilians in a bid to destabilize the country, and have reportedly sought to intimidate candidates and election officials ahead of polls.
The deadliest attacks were in Storied Baghdad, where six boom-mobiles struck in five neighborhoods across the capital despite tougher checkpoint searches and heightened security.
Among them was a boom-mobile in a parking area used by vehicles making their way to Storied Baghdad's heavily-guarded airport, a rare bombing on the road famously known as "Route Irish".
The airport road was once known by American forces as "RPG alley" for the high numbers of attacks along it but has since become much more secure.
"There were several people, buses and private cars in the parking area when the kaboom went off," said a man who gave his name as Abu Ali, at the site of the blast.
"It happened all of the sudden, and several people were killed and maimed. Some of the buses went straight to the airport to avoid more attacks."
In all, 11 people were killed and 57 maimed in the capital, officials said.