Al Qaeda shows its strength in Iraq

Al Qaeda showed it has the strength to strike all over Iraq yesterday by making a string of attacks that left at least 50 dead, half of them policemen and soldiers, and 250 wounded, across at least 13 cities and towns.

The bombings came after the United States reduced its troops in Iraq to below 50,000 and withdrew the last of its combat brigades.

The attacks undermine the Iraqi Government's claim to have succeeded in greatly improving security and weakening al Qaeda.

The heaviest casualties were in the city of Kut, 160km southeast of Baghdad on the Tigris River. A suicide bomber in a car penetrated security barriers and detonated his explosives between a police station and provincial government headquarters, killing 19 people, 15 of them policemen.

A further 90 people were wounded. Part of the police building collapsed with many bodies still inside, including that of the local police chief.

The attacks show al Qaeda still has the men and the organisation to strike from Mosul in northern Iraq to Basra in the south. Many of the bombings, such as those in Kut, Basra and Kerbala, were deep in Shiite territory that has been largely secure.

The Government had been hoping al Qaeda was losing strength because so many of its leaders have been killed or captured over the past year. There was also believed to be a reduced flow of foreign volunteers for suicide bombings entering the country, mainly through Syria.

There is no direct connection between the departure of the Americans and the bombings. When the Americans had 170,000 troops in Iraq three years ago they were also unable to stop the bombers, who usually attack soft targets. Civilian casualties have fallen from 3000 a month in 2006-7 to 200 to 300 a month today.

Not all the suicide bombers got through. In Mosul Iraqi soldiers shot and killed a suicide bomber as he tried to blow up his car. But in Buhriz, northeast of Baghdad, gunmen blew up police buildings and then raised the black al Qaeda flag.

- Independent