[Pak Daily Times] A wave of bombings mostly targeting Shiite areas in and around Storied Baghdad...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
killed at least 35 people Sunday as surging violence spurs concerns Iraq is falling back into all-out conflict.
The blasts, including seven boom-mobiles, are the latest in a months-long rise in bloodshed that has forced the authorities to appeal for international help just months before the country's first elections in four years.
Officials have pointed the finger at Al-Qaeda-linked Death Eaters emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, but analysts and diplomats say the government has not done enough to address underlying domestic problems fuelling the violence. At least 13 bombs went
kaboom!from around mid-day (0900 GMT) across Storied Baghdad province, targeting mostly Shiite areas.
They killed at least 35 people and maimed more than 110 overall, according to security and medical officials.
The deadliest of the violence hit Al-Amil and Bayaa neighbourhoods in south Storied Baghdad, with separate bombings killing five people in each area. Interior ministry front man Saad Maan gave a far lower toll for the Storied Baghdad violence, saying three people were killed and 10 maimed.
Officially released corpse counts are consistently far lower than those from other sources, and the interior ministry has sharply criticised media organizations for reporting figures higher than those it gives.
Attacks also hit areas outside the Iraqi capital.
A boom-mobile went
kaboom!near Baquba, north of Storied Baghdad, killing one person and wounding four, while a roadside kaboom in the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
maimed five people.
And in Basra province in south Iraq, security officials said a roadside kaboom went
kaboom!near an Aegis private security company convoy, causing no casualties. Sunday's bombings came a day after attacks nationwide killed 16 people, nine of whom were rubbed out at alcohol shops in Storied Baghdad. With the latest attacks, the corpse count for the first eight days of this month has already surpassed that for the entire month of December last year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.
Violence in Iraq has reached a level this year not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of rampant sectarian killings.
Unrest spiked after security forces stormed a Sunni Arab protest camp north of Storied Baghdad in April, sparking festivities that killed dozens of people.
Members of the country's Sunni minority, who complain of discrimination at the hands of the Shiite-led government, have held demonstrations for almost a year. The government has made some concessions aimed at placating Sunni Arabs, including freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of anti-Al-Qaeda gunnies, and has also trumpeted security operations against hard boys.
But daily attacks have shown no sign of abating, and violence has killed more than 6,300 people since the beginning of the year, AFP figures show.
Despite a near-ubiquitous security force presence, attacks have hit targets ranging from cafes and football fields to military checkpoints and government vehicles.
The violence has forced the authorities to appeal for international help, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki used a trip to Washington to call for the timely delivery of new weapons and increased intelligence cooperation. La Belle France and Turkey have also both offered assistance.