Iraq explosions shatter Shiite areas

A series of coordinated bombings shattered Shiite neighborhoods and struck at Iraqi security forces Sunday, killing at least 26 in attacks that one official described as a rallying call by al-Qaeda just days after dozens of militants escaped from prison. Police said the wave of explosions stretched from the restive, oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north to the southern Shiite town of Kut, wounding at least 94 people.

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Sept. 30, 2012

Residents run for cover as a bomb goes off during an attack in Baghdad. At around 7:15 a.m. in Baghdad, police said a suicide bomber set off his explosives-packed car in the northwest Shiite neighborhood of Shula, killing one person and wounding seven. The chain reaction of blasts continued in other Shiite areas of Iraq throughout the morning, petering off at around noon. Also in Baghdad, a double car bomb struck the mostly Shiite neighborhood of Karradah. The first explosion came as a security patrol passed, killing a police officer and a bystander, and wounding eight other people. As emergency responders rushed to the scene, the second car blew up, killing three passers-by and injuring 12, according to officials.

Saad Shalash / Reuters

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqi security personnel stand at the site of a bomb attack in Kut, 95 miles southeast of Baghdad. Another suicide bomber drove a minibus into a security checkpoint in the city. Baghdad. Maj. Gen. Hussein Abdul-Hadi Mahbob said three police officers were killed and five wounded.

Jaafer Abed / Reuters

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqi firefighters extinguish a fire in a building at the scene of a car bomb attack near the Sacred Heart Church in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but bombings are a hallmark of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni insurgency that has been struggling for years to goad Shiite militias back toward civil war.

Khalid Mohammed / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqi policemen inspect the scene of a car bomb attack near the Sacred Heart Church. The blasts brought September’s death toll from sectarian violence to nearly 200 people — a grim, above-average monthly total for the period since U.S. troops left last year. The steady pace of attacks has worked to undermine confidence in the government.

Hadi Mizban / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqi policemen help an injured colleague after a car bomb attack near Baghdad’s Sacred Heart Church. A key Shiite lawmaker said the bombings likely sought to galvanize al-Qaeda in the wake of a prison break last Friday in Saddam Hussein’s northern hometown of Tikrit. Scores of inmates escaped — including as many as 47 convicted al-Qaeda militants — in a massive security lapse that the government acknowledged had help from inside.

Khalid Mohammed / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in the town of Taji, a former al-Qaeda stronghold about 12 miles north of Baghdad and the site of Sunday’s deadliest attack. Police said three explosive-rigged cars in a Shiite neighborhood went off within minutes of each other, killing eight and wounding 28 in back-to-back blasts that began at around 7:15 a.m.

Hadi Mizban / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

An Iraqi youth helps a woman near the scene of a car bomb attack in Taji. Earlier this summer, the Iraqi wing of al-Qaeda, also called the Islamic State of Iraq, launched a campaign dubbed “Breaking the Walls,” which aimed at retaking strongholds from which it was driven by the American military after sectarian fighting peaked in 2007.

Hadi Mizban / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad. “Such attacks waged on almost monthly basis show that the terrorist groups are still strong and they are not scattered or in chaos as depicted by the government,” said Hadi Jalo, a political analyst in Baghdad. “It shows also that the failing security forces have not moved a step forward in their war against terrorism.”

Karim Kadim / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

Iraqis inspect the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad.

Karim Kadim / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

Onlookers stare through the shattered windshield of a vehicle at the scene of a car bomb attack in Baghdad.

Karim Kadim / AP

Sept. 30, 2012

A boy stands at the scene of a car bomb attack in the town of Taji. “The situation in Iraq is still unstable,” said Hakim al-Zamili, a Shiite member of parliament’s security committee. “And repetition of such attacks shows that our security forces are still unqualified to deal with the terrorists.”

Hadi Mizban / AP

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