BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government decided to increase security at checkpoints near government buildings and markets and keep concrete blast barriers around potential targets after a wave of deadly bombings struck Baghdad, government officials said Thursday.
The officials said the move was agreed to in a meeting late Wednesday between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and security chiefs. It reverses a decision by the Iraqi military to remove all blast walls from the city by mid-September.
Bombs struck a restaurant in Baghdad and a bus and a market south of the capital on Thursday, killing at least seven people while fear and anger spread following the deadly bombing spree the day before that killed at least 101.
The bloodshed has dealt a devastating blow to public confidence in the Iraqi government and prompted al-Maliki to admit security failures for the first time — a sharp reversal of his campaign to project a sense of normalcy ahead of January’s parliamentary elections.
The uptick in violence has raised fears about the readiness of Iraqi forces to provide security less than two months after the June 30 withdrawal of U.S. troops from cities. The government’s acknowledgment of the problems reflected intensifying concern.
Al-Maliki convened an emergency meeting late Wednesday with senior security and military officials.
Two government officials said the decision was made to keep the blast walls around markets and other vital areas in Baghdad and to set up mobile checkpoints to enhance searching and observation abilities. The officials spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to release the information.
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, also said 11 police and army commanders overseeing security, traffic and intelligence services in the targeted areas have been detained on suspicion of negligence.
