It’s been a deadly day in Iraq at hands of suspected al-Qaida militants

It’s been a deadly day in Iraq at hands of suspected al-Qaida militants

Associated Press

BAGHDAD

Insurgents killed at least 64 people in a wave of attacks against Iraqi security forces today, gunning down soldiers at an army post and bombing police recruits waiting in line to apply for jobs, officials said.

The violence, which struck at least a dozen cities and wounded 285 people, highlighted militant attempts to sow havoc in the country and undermine the government.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but security forces are a frequent target of al-Qaida’s Iraq branch, which has vowed to reassert itself and take back areas it was forced from before U.S. troops withdrew from the country last year.

“What kind of life is this?” said Safeen Qadir, 26, a university student in Kirkuk. He described dead bodies and weeping, shouting relatives at bombing scenes in Kirkuk, where three midmorning explosions killed seven and wounded about 70.