Updated at 12:30 p.m. EDT, May 11, 2010
At least 154 Iraqis were killed and 620 more were wounded in a staggering series of attacks across the country. Some of the attacks likely were coordinated, such as those on checkpoints in Baghdad. Others seemed completely random. Security officials were quick to blame al-Qaeda or foreign nations, but the attacks crossed the sectarian lines, striking Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurd targets. In an unusual switch, the worst attacks occurred south of the capital in Hilla, Suwayra and Basra, where such attacks after tapered off. Conflicting casualty figures often follow such large and wide-ranging attacks.
A triple bombing in Hilla left 55 dead and 220 wounded. Police had received information on a potential attack were unable to stop it. First, two car bombs exploded as workers were leaving a textile factory. A suicide bomber then struck as people gathered to assist earlier victims. A separate bomb attack killed a police officer and wounded six patrolmen.
A blast in Suwayra left 16 dead and 80 wounded near a mosque and marketplace.
Three bombs in and around Basra killed 42 and wounded at least 214 more. The head of security for the province suggested that unnamed Arab states were involved in the bombings.
In Baghdad, gunmen using silencers staged attacks at checkpoints across the city, killing 10 and wounding 22 security members. Three roadside bombs in southern and southeastern neighborhoods left two policemen dead and 11 injured. A roadside bomb wounded two people in Husseiniya. Other bombs left no casualties. An evening blast wounded four people.
In Tarmiyah, a car bomb blast killed five and wounded another 18 people. The mayor was among the injured.
A bomb in Abu Ghraib killed three people and wounded 13 others. A separate bomb killed two more. A third blast killed a homeowner when it demolished his house.
In Fallujah, the first series of blasts targeting homes belonging to security personnel left three dead and seven wounded. Later, a bomb at a civilian home killed a woman and wounded four people. Another bomb killed one person and wounded another.
A suicide bomber killed two Peshmerga fighters and wounded four more at a checkpoint near Mosul in Kokajli.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a college student outside his home and wounded a passerby in Rashidiya. A soldier was wounded in blast. Yesterday, gunmen killed a carpenter and his son, while also wounding two females.
Gunmen assassinated a senior official working for Khalis municipal council’s committee for displaced people.
A bomb at a shop in Iskandariya left two dead and three wounded.
Three people were wounded by a blast at a market in Mussayab.
Four policemen were wounded in Samarra when a bomb blasted their patrol.
In Tal Afar, two bodies were discovered.
A car bomb parked in front of the Yusufiya council offices left no casualties.
No casualties were reported after gunmen blew-up the home of an Awakening Council (Sahwa) member in Balad.
A wanted suspect was arrested in Bab Jadied.
Kurdish Asayesh forces in Suleimaniyah arrested a number of suspects.
The army arrested a number of suspects and defused several bombs in Baquba.
Kuwait arrested 10 Iraqi fishermen for straying into their waters.
