BAGHDAD — Two days of attacks targeting hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims in the Iraqi capital have killed almost 70 people, casting a spotlight Thursday on Iraq’s security challenges as militants focus on stoking sectarian tensions that have hindered efforts to form a new government.
The violence linked to the anniversary of the death of a revered Shiite holy man bears the hallmark of Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
While it pales in comparison to attacks in previous years, the bloodshed comes at a crucial time for the country as officials jostle for power while struggling to ensure security and stability as U.S. forces begin their return home.
Despite a force of about 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police officers that fanned out along the pilgrims’ route in Baghdad to ensure security, insurgents were still able to pull off a string of attacks, including at least two by suicide bombers.
“Those who benefit from such acts are the enemies of humanity, the enemies of democracy, the enemies of openness,” Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Thursday in Beirut, where he was paying his respects after the death of a leading Shiite cleric.
The Iraqi premier is locked in a power struggle for his post with Ayad Allawi, the secular politician who served as Iraq’s first prime minister after the 2003 invasion and whose Sunni-backed coalition narrowly won the March 7 election. They face a July 14 constitutionally mandated deadline to select a new government.
On Thursday, three roadside bombings in eastern and northern Baghdad killed 14 people and wounded at least 63. A car bomb in southern Baghdad killed another person. The incidents followed a particularly gruesome night in which nearly 60 people were killed in a series of attacks that marked the worst violence since late April.
