Insurgents unleashed a barrage of coordinated car bombings and small-arms attacks across Ira on Thursday, killing at least 40 people in what Iraqi officials called a “frantic race” to shatter people’s faith in the government’s strained grip on security.
Although civilians suffered the worst casualties, most of the attacks were aimed at police officers, security convoys and other signposts of government authority. Bombs exploded outside a police station, a court, a political office and a local council building.
Several assailants targeted the roadside checkpoints where police officers and soldiers check drivers’ identification cards and sometimes search cars. The ubiquitous checkpoints, decorated by security forces with fabric flowers and emblems of religious pride, are an almost daily target of violence.
More than a hundred people across the country were wounded in the attacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/world/middleeast/baghdad-car-bombings-kill-dozens.html
