Updated at 4:52 p.m. EDT, Aug. 25, 2010
A two-hour long multiple attack against Iraq’s fragile security forces took place in major cities throughout Iraq, leaving no region untouched. At least 92 Iraqis were killed and 379 more were wounded in the apparently coordinated attacks. Although security personnel were the focus of the violence, many civilians were caught up in the mayhem as well. The bloodiest attacks took place in relatively quiet Kut and in the capital. Meanwhile, a member of the Iraqiya list, which won the most seats in parliament, called for an emergency session to discuss today’s development. A similar day of violence in Baghdad last August was dubbed "Bloody Wednesday." Today’s attacks may have left less casualties in their wake, but the reach of the attacks — from Basra to Ninewa to Diyala and Anbar, with Baghdad in the middle — was astounding by any measure.
Iraqiya M.P. Falah Hassan Zaidan al-Haybi called for an emergency parliament session and warned that Iraqi forces are not ready to take over security from U.S. troops. This is a sentiment that some Arab analysts openly share. How the emergency session will take place remains to be seen. Almost six months after national elections, Iraq has yet to seat the new government. The new parliament had met briefly to be sworn in bet then went onhiatus until a new prime minister, among other officers, is selected.
Meanwhile, the White House today congratulated itself on reducing the number of troops in Iraq by 94,000 since U.S. President Barack Obama took over the Oval Office. Although the remaining 49,700 soldiers and advisors are not considered "combat troops," they are still in danger. Some of the troops who were part of the drawdown, however, hoped that Iraq would soon see real stability. Still, those Iraqis who do not want foreign troops wonder if the occupation will ever actually end. President Obama will give a speech next Tuesday marking this step in the drawdown process.
A suicide bomber targeting police in Kut killed 30 people and wounded 87 more. Most of the dead were police, and the hospital was quickly overwhelmed with casualties they could not treat. The bomber somehow managed to get a booby-trapped car inside the police cordon encircling the provincial government building. This is the second significant bombing in the southern city this month.
In Baghdad, 15 people were killed and 58 more were wounded when a suicide car bomber struck at an al-Qahira police station parking lot. Police were not the only ones injured in the attack. Trapped civilians in neighboring residences were pulled from the rubble of their homes in the hours following the attack, while others nearly rioted over what they perceive is a lack of protection from police. An anonymous Iraqi intelligence officer suggested that the bomber had inside help.
Also in the capital , three people were killed and 14 others were wounded in a blast in Kadhimiya. A bomb on Haifa Street wounded three civilians. Another blast, this one in Karrada wounded five more. In Amil, gunmen using silencers an attack at a checkpoint left killed two policemen. Two people were killed and seven more were wounded in a bombing in Allawi, while another bomb wounded three soldiers in Amiriya.
In Mosul, five people were killed and 20 were wounded in a car bombing in the Daourat Abou Alisi area; an infant was among the casualties. A potential suicide bomber was killed outside an army base while another bomber was killed in Mithaq. Gunmen wounded a policeman during an attack, but when police tracked down the man they accidentally shot and killed a police colonel; there is no word on the gunman’s fate. One soldier was killed and another two were wounded in an attack at a market that left three others wounded as well. A suicide bombing at an army base south of the city left three dead and 13 wounded.
In the holy city of Karbala, a car bomb killed seven people and wounded at least 33 more, including 16 policemen.
Three people were killed and 18 more were wounded when two bombs were detonated outside a Muqdadiya municipal building.
A suicide bomber drove into an army convoy in Fallujah, killing one soldier and wounding 10 more. Two policemen were wounded in a roadside blast. A sticky bomb killed a soldier. Police defused a separate car bomb.
A bombing on al-Cinema Street in Ramadi left eight dead and as many as 13 injured. An earlier explosion killed two gunmen and wounded four bystanders when the bomb blew up prematurely.
One policeman was killed and another was wounded in a roadside blast in Tikrit. A separate bomb near the university wounded seven people, including two students. Two other bombs were defused.
A car bomb at a police station in Dujail wounded 20, but only five of them were police.
A bus bomb near a police station in central Basra wounded 12 people.
A rocket attack in Tal Afar killed a small child and wounded three people.
In Kirkuk, a bomb killed one person and wounded nine others.
Six car bombs wounded a total of 13 people in Balad Ruz.
In Mahmoudiya, a blast killed one person and wounded four others.
A bomb targeting a facilities protection convoy in Samarra wounded four people, including a commander.
At least one person was wounded during a bombing in Hilla or nearby Iskandariya.
A civil servant was wounded in a blast in Baiji.
Gunmen blew up several homes belonging to policemen in Buhriz but only wounded four people altogether. They raised their flag on one building,
Anbar province is under a curfew and vehicle ban.
Police in Diyala responded to the series of attacks in that province by rounding up 32 suspects.
