A glance at the deadliest attacks in Iraq since US troop pullout
BAGHDAD - A look at the deadliest attacks in Iraq since the U.S. troops pullout on Dec. 18, 2011:
—Dec. 22, 2011: A wave of attacks rips through markets, cafes and government buildings in a dozen, mostly Shiite neighbourhoods of Baghdad, killing 69 people. Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq claims responsibility the following week.
—Jan. 5, 2012: Coordinated bombings target Shiite Muslims, killing 78 in Baghdad and outside the southern city of Nasiriyah, just days before a Shiite holy day that annually draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
—Jan. 9: Three car bombs, one of which appeared to target Shiite pilgrims, kill at least 17 people in Baghdad.
—Jan. 14: A bomb tears through a procession of Shiite pilgrims near the town of Zubair in southern Iraq, killing at least 53 people.
—Jan. 26: Insurgents kill 17 people across the country, including 10 killed in a bombing attack on a house of two policemen and their families in central Iraq.
—Jan. 28: A suicide car bomber strikes a Shiite funeral procession, killing 33 in the predominantly Shiite neighbourhood of Zafaraniyah in southwestern Baghdad.
—Feb. 19: A suicide bomber detonates his car as a group of police recruits leave their academy in eastern Baghdad, killing 20.
—Feb. 23: Attacks kill at least 55 people as car bombs go off near an elementary school in the town of Musayyib, a restaurant in the Shiite neighbourhood of Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad and by security forces on patrols, at checkpoints and around government and political offices.
—March 5: Assailants waving al-Qaida's battle flag gun down 25 policemen in a brazen, well-orchestrated attack in Haditha, challenging the government's control over the strategic town fraught with Iraq war symbolism.
—March 20: Insurgents bent on derailing an Arab League meeting in Baghdad unleash attacks across the country, leaving 46 dead as they strike against Shiite pilgrims in the holy city of Karbala, set cars on fire in Kirkuk and target security forces and government officials in Baghdad and other cities.
—April 19: Bombs rip through 10 Iraqi cities, killing at least 30 people and shattering a month of relative calm. Al-Qaida later says the attacks aimed to punish the Shiite-led government — and all those who co-operate with it — for injustices against Sunnis.
—May 31: Bombs explode at a crowded restaurant in Baghdad's Shiite neighbourhood of Shula, near police patrols and target government officials in attacks that kill at least 18.
—June 4: A suicide bomber detonates an explosive-rigged car outside Iraq's main religious affairs office for Shiite Muslims, shearing off the facade of the three-story building and killing at least 23 people.
—June 13: A wave of car bombs strikes Shiite pilgrims in several cities, from Baghdad to Hillah, Karbala, Taji and Balad, killing at least 65 people in 16 separate explosions targeting an annual Shiite pilgrimage commemorating the 8th century death of revered imam.
