Iraq attacks kill at least 24: security officials

Violence in Iraq dropped in 2012, data released Tuesday showed, but insurgents proved they were still capable of mounting waves of attacks and a watchdog warned the country was still in a "low-level war".

BAGHDAD — A wave of bombings tore through Baghdad on Tuesday morning, killing at least 57 people in a spasm of violence on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion. The attacks show how dangerous and unstable Iraq remains a decade after the war – a country where sectarian violence can explode at any time. And though attacks have ebbed since the peak of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007, tensions simmer and militants remain a potent threat to Iraq’s security forces.

QUETTA, Pakistan — A series of bombings in different parts of Pakistan killed 103 people on Thursday, including 69 who died in a sectarian attack on a bustling billiard hall in the southwest city of Quetta, officials said. The blasts punctuated one of the deadliest days in recent years in Pakistan, where the government faces a bloody insurgency by Taliban militants in the northwest and Baluch militants in the southwest.

Seven people were killed, including a young girl and a policeman, in a spate of attacks across Iraq on Monday, security officials said.In Ramadi, the capital of the predominantly Sunni western Iraqi province of Anbar, insurgents bombed the homes of policemen, destroying three houses and killing a girl, police said. Ten people were also wounded in the attacks.Among the buildings targeted were the homes of two lieutenant colonels, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A triple blast in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, killed at least 10 Iraqis and wounded 15 on Thursday, security officials told AFP."At least 10 people were killed and 15 wounded when three simultaneous blasts hit the governorate offices in Ramadi, at 8:30 pm (1730 GMT)," a police lieutenant in the Al-Anbar provincial capital said.The officer said the casualty toll was a preliminary one and added that the bombings were probably "suicide attacks targeting policemen present in the area."

Eleven car bombs rocked Baghdad, killing at least 63 people amid concern that Sunni militants are taking advantage of a power vacuum seven months after an inconclusive election.Another 285 people were wounded in the bombings that were targeted at Shiite neighbourhoods in the Iraqi capital, some exploding near cafes or restaurants.The attacks came just two days after Al-Qaeda gunmen stormed a church in the heart of the city and took dozens of worshippers hostage, with 46 of them killed in a drama that ended with a raid by Iraqi special forces.

Three car bombs ripped through crowds near Iraq's shrine city of Karbala on Monday, killing 12 people and wounding dozens in fresh attacks on pilgrims arriving for religious rituals."There were three car bomb explosions, two at 8:30 AM (05:30 GMT) and another 30 minutes later," said Nusayef Jassem, the provincial vice chief."Twelve people were killed and 150 wounded in the attacks," he said.Dr Laith Sharifi, an official of the provincial health department, said earlier that 10 people were killed and 50 wounded, with women and children among the victims.

A car bomb and several roadside blasts killed three people and wounded dozens in Baghdad on Wednesday morning, health and security officials said.In the deadliest attack, a vehicle packed with explosives was detonated and quickly followed by a roadside bomb near a bus terminal in the south Baghdad neighbourhood of Bayaa, killing two people.Officials from the ministries of defence and interior, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said more than 20 others were wounded, including 10 members of the Iraqi security forces.