Wave of Deadly Attacks Hits Iraq

UPDATE:

Three evening bombings and a shooting have killed 20 people adding to a day plagued with attacks throughout Iraq.

UPDATE:

Three evening bombings and a shooting have killed 20 people adding to a day plagued with attacks throughout Iraq.

Three car bombs in western Baghdad neighborhoods left 15 dead and 47 wounded. A gunmen killed three security officers and wounded a fourth at a checkpoint in the town of Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad.

Sunday's toll reached at least 64 dead and 285 wounded.

EARLIER:

A wave of attacks hit Iraq Sunday, displaying another alarming hike in violence in the country. Up to 20 attacks across 11 cities in the country killed roughly 51 people and wounded over 250, medical officials said Sunday.

Sources still vary regarding total attacks and causalities over the course of the weekend.

In Sunday's deadliest attack, gunmen attacked a small Iraqi Army outpost in the town of Dujail, killing at least 10 soldiers and wounding eight more, according to police and hospital officials

Shortly after, a car bomb struck a group of police recruits waiting in line to apply for jobs with the state-run Northern Oil Co. outside the northern city of Kirkuk. Seven were killed and 17 wounded.

Two car bombs exploded in a busy area in the southern city of Nasiriyah, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad.

Roadside bombs plagued at least 9 other cities Sunday.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Journalist Ahmed Rushdi, reporting from Baghdad, told Al-Jazeera it may not only be al-Qaeda that was behind the attacks.

"It is also the insurgency against the government and the political parties, because there is a major political dispute between al Maliki and his opponents," Rushdi said.

"It is another day in the major failure of the security forces in Iraq. The people here are asking themselves; what is the government doing to regain control of the situation? There seems to be no real intelligence data concerning these attacks."

Peak violence in Iraq occured between 2006 and 2007; however, attacks have not subsided. 278 people were killed in the country in August according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on security and medical officials.

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