At least 55 people have been killed in Iraq after a deadly day of bombings and shootings. More than 225 people were injured in what the government is calling a “frantic” attempt by militants and insurgents to prove to the world that Iraq will never again be stable.
The attacks were spread across 12 cities and if the insurgents wanted to prove that the country is still vulnerable since the United States withdrew its troops, they accomplished just that. In Musayyib, a bomb in a car exploded near a school. There were 73 people injured and three people killed. Almost all of the injured were children. Many Iraqis blamed the country’s security forces for allowing such attacks to happen. Of the 26 attacks today, 15 were targeted against checkpoints, security patrols, political offices, and government offices.
In Baghdad, a restaurant was bombed, killing nine and injuring nineteen. A checkpoint in the northern part of the capital city was targeted by drive-by gunmen. Six policemen were killed there. A police station in Baqouba, which is only 35 miles from Baghdad, was attacked when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in his car. Two were killed there and another eight were injured.
Many Iraqis will not join the police or security forces because of attacks such as these. The public is quickly losing any confidence in the ability of the security or police forces to do their job.
The number of casualties was reported by hospital officials, but no names were given because they wanted to remain anonymous. While no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, it is believed to be the work of al Qaeda. The militant group has been launching these types of large scale attacks every few weeks. On December 22, 69 people were killed in similar bombings. Over the next three weeks, there were more bombings, which killed 78 and 53 people.
