Iraq Ripped by Wave of Bombings

Several violent attacks ripped through Iraq, killing at least 103 people and wounding nearly 200 Monday in the deadliest day of attacks this year.

The shootings and bombings follow a warning last week by the head of the al-Qaida group in Iraq that he was stepping up operations in areas vacated by U.S. troops last year. In June, the group claimed responsibility for a wave of car bombings that killed 72 people and wounded nearly 260 others.

Authorities said the attacks in 12 Iraqi locales targeted government and military installations. They included gunmen killing at least 15 Iraqi soldiers at a military base in the northeastern town of Udaim, as well as a series of explosions in the northern city of Kirkuk.

A car bomb also exploded in Baghdad. The deadliest attacks targeted Taji, just north of the capital, where bombs were planted in five houses and killed at least 40 people and wounded scores more.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attacks appear well-coordinated. Coming during the holy time of Ramadan, they again call into question the ability of the fractured Iraqi government to corral terror.