IRAQ:IRAQ SUFFERED a day of widespread violence yesterday when nearly 60 people were killed in three separate bomb attacks blamed on Sunni Islamist groups.
In Baquba, capital of Diyala province north of Baghdad, 40 people died and 70 were injured when a bus exploded outside a restaurant near the city's courthouse and government offices. Reports from the scene said a large number of the victims were women and children and that the death toll was expected to rise.
It was the deadliest single bombing in Iraq since a pair of female suicide bombers struck two pet markets, killing 99 people, in an attack in Baghdad on February 1st.
In Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, 13 people were killed in a suicide bombing that hit a kebab restaurant. "Pieces of flesh flew into the air and the roof fell over us," one witness said. "I saw the horrible sight of bodies without heads or without legs or hands."
Like Baquba, the area had seen a sharp decline in violence in recent months as tribal leaders in the Sahwa or "Awakening" movement joined forces with the Americans to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The third incident was in central Baghdad when a car bomb hit a police patrol, killing three.
The latest attacks underline how, despite recent successes attributed to the US troop "surge", the capacity for Sunni violence remains undiminished.
On Monday 18 people died in two car bombings and a suicide attack in areas where al-Qaeda is active. They also demonstrate how separate wars are being fought in different areas of the country.
The US military said yesterday that troops backed by an airstrike had killed six fighters in Sadr City, stronghold of Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army, in the capital. Iraqi police said two boys were among those killed, but the US military said no civilian casualties were reported. - ( Guardian service )