Wave of Attacks Kills 32 in Iraq

A string of nearly a dozen apparently coordinated bombs and a shooting in cities across Iraq killed at least 32 and wounded dozens today, extending a wave of violence. Most of the car bombs hit Shiite-majority areas and were the cause of most of the casualties. The blasts hit half a dozen cities and towns in the south and center of the country, and bore the hallmark of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The blasts began when a parked car bomb went off early morning in the city of Kut, killing three and wounding 14. That was followed by another car bomb outside the city targeted a gathering of construction workers that killed two and wounded 12. Elsewhere:

• In the oil-rich city of Basra, a car bomb exploded in a busy downtown street. As police and rescuers rushed to the scene, a second car exploded. Six people died.

• An hour later, two parked car bombs ripped through the southern city of Nasiriyah, killing one and wounding 17.
• In the town of Mahmoudiya, two civilians were killed and nine wounded when a car bomb went off in an open market.
• In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, a blast struck a produce market, killing eight and wounding 28.
• In Madain, a roadside bomb and then a car bomb exploded, killing three and wounding 14.
• Near Hillah, a car bomb exploded in a parking lot, killing one and wounding nine.
• In Mosul, gunmen attacked police guarding a remote stretch of an oil pipeline, killing four and wounding five.
• In the northern city of Tuz Khormato, a roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded another.

(More Iraq stories.)