A wave of attacks across Iraq killed 67 people yesterday as it faced a political crisis, with its Vice-President accused of running death squads and the premiere warning he could break off power-sharing.
Apparently coordinated blasts in the capital and the slaughter of a family of five in restive Diyala province were the first major signs of violence in a row that has threatened Iraq’s fragile political truce and heightened sectarian tensions just days after US forces completed their withdrawal from the country.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed that the bombers would not be allowed to have any impact on the political process, while Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi condemned the attacks, which he said “threaten national unity”.
“The timing of these crimes and their locations confirm once again to any doubters the political nature of the goals that those criminals want to achieve,” Mr Maliki said in a statement. “The criminals and those who stand behind them will not succeed in changing events or the political process, or in escaping punishment.”
Parliament called an urgent meeting of political leaders for today, the traditional Muslim day of prayer and rest.
Meanwhile, US army chief of staff General Ray Odierno, former head of US forces in Iraq, met with Maliki for talks on military cooperation, a statement from the premier’s office said, without elaborating..
More than a dozen Baghdad attacks, the deadliest in more than four months, mostly targeted Shiite neighbourhoods and coincided with the morning rush hour. Health ministry spokesman Ziad Tariq put the toll at 60 dead and 183 wounded, while an interior ministry official said 63 people were killed and 194 wounded.
The deadliest single attack involved a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker which blew up at the offices of the anti-corruption agency, killing 23 people, including five senior investigators, the interior ministry official said.
Twin roadside bombs and a car bomb struck construction workers in the Allawi neighbourhood, central Baghdad, killing 16. Separate evening attacks at a market and a café killed three, Tariq said.
Helicopters could be heard hovering overhead at many of the blast sites and emergency response vehicles rushed to the scene of attacks, while tightened security at checkpoints worsened Baghdad’s traffic.