BAGHDAD — The bloodiest day of the year in Iraq left at least 69 people dead in a series of bombings in mainly Shiite areas Friday — concerted attacks seen as demonstrating the resilience of the Sunni-led insurgency after the slaying of two al-Qaeda leaders last weekend.
No one has taken responsibility for the blasts, but officials were quick to blame Sunni-led insurgent groups for attacking at a particularly fragile time as Iraq awaits formation of a new government and prepares for U.S. troops to go home by the end of next year.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lashed out at the bombers in a statement Friday night, saying the insurgents were trying to fight back after Iraqi security forces killed the two al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders April 18.
“The cowardly terrorist attacks that occurred today were intending to cover the great success achieved by the security forces through the killing of the leaders of wickedness and terrorism, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri,” al-Maliki said.
The apparently coordinated attacks Friday came in a two-hour span after the Shiites’ call to prayer across the capital. The major blasts were in former Shiite militia strongholds, underscoring the insurgents’ professed aim of provoking a new round of sectarian bloodshed.
Among the targets of the car and roadside bombs were three Shiite mosques:
• In the eastern Baghdad slum of Sadr City, hundreds of worshipers knelt on prayer mats in the streets surrounding the offices of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr when the deadliest blasts went off. Four car bombs timed to maximize the carnage killed at least 36 people and wounded nearly 200, according to hospital and police officials.
• Two others targeted mosques linked with prominent Shiite political leaders.
