68 killed as coordinated blasts,attacks leave Iraqi cities limping

The violence touched nearly every region of the country and appeared to be aimed at forces in both Sunni and Shia areas.

In all,there were 37 attacks,more than double the daily average this year,nearing the level of violence at the height of the sectarian conflict here in 2006 and 2007. The attacks included 11 car bombs,19 improvised explosive devices and 2 suicide bombers.

Coming a little less than two weeks after the Iraqi government said it would negotiate with the US about keeping some of its 48,000 troops here after the end of the year,the violence raised significant questions about the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces.

No group claimed responsibility for the attacks Monday. But in a voice recording posted on a website for al-Qaeda in Iraq last week,the spokesman for the terrorist group said that they were preparing a wide-scale attack.

I promise you that we are on the right path, said the spokesman,Abi Muhhamed al-Adnani. Thank God that we are doing very well here.

Do not worry,the days of Zarqawi are going to return soon, he said,referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed by US forces in 2006.

The most lethal attack occurred in the city of Kut,south of Baghdad,where a series of explosions including a car bomb inside the citys main market around 8 am killed 35 people and wounded 71,according to a local security official.

In Diyala Province,north of Baghdad,there were at least a dozen explosions that left 6 dead and 29 wounded,according to a local security official. Gunmen attacked two checkpoints in Baquba,the capital of Diyala,killing five members of the security forces.

Two suicide bombers in Salahuddin Province,which borders Diyala,attacked an Iraqi counterterrorism unit in the city of Tikrit,killing a high-ranking officer and two other members of the unit and wounding at least 10,according to a security official.

Two car bombs were detonated in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf,killing 8,a health official said. There was violence in the capital,Baghdad,too. A car bomb was detonated near a government convoy in the neighbourhood of Mansur,wounding five people,including two security guards.