Iraq Hit by Wave of Bombings

A series of deadly bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq struck a party headquarters, two mosques and other sites, in apparent retaliation for a U.S.-Iraqi raid five days earlier that killed the two top leaders of the country’s insurgency.

At least 58 people were killed. —JCL

The New York Times:

A coordinated series of explosions struck a party headquarters, two mosques, a market and a shop in Baghdad on Friday, deepening the country’s turmoil amid a political impasse and a concerted military campaign against the leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The attacks, which killed at least 58 people and wounded scores more in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, were the worst of an intermittent wave of bombings since the parliamentary election on March 7. The outcome of the vote remains unclear, as election officials prepare to conduct a partial recount in Baghdad and possibly other provinces.

[...] The attacks came five days after a joint Iraqi-American raid killed the top two leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Iraqi and American officials hailed the killings — and a series of other killings and arrests before and after — as a devastating blow to the group. At the same time they warned that retaliation was almost certain to come, though it was not clear that the group was behind the attacks on Friday. 

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AP / Karim Kadim

Men carry a victim of one of a series of bomb blasts in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad on Friday.