Coordinated bombings shattered Shia neighbourhoods and struck at Iraqi security forces on Sunday, killing at least 26 in attacks that one official described as a rallying call by al-Qaida just days after dozens of militants escaped from prison.
The blasts brought September's death toll from sectarian violence to nearly 200 people – a grim, above-average monthly total for the period since US troops left last year. The steady pace of attacks has worked to undermine confidence in the government.
"The people are fed up with the killings in Iraqi cities," said Ammar Abbas, 45, a Shia and government employee who lives in a Baghdad neighbourhood near one of the bombings. "The government officials should feel shame for letting their people die at the hands of terrorists."
Police said the wave of explosions stretched from the restive but oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north to the southern Shia town of Kut, wounding at least 94 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but bombings are a hallmark of al-Qaida in Iraq, the Sunni insurgency that has been struggling for years to goad Shia militias back towards civil war.
A key Shia lawmaker said the bombings likely sought to galvanise al-Qaida in the wake of a prison break last Friday in Saddam Hussein's northern hometown of Tikrit. Scores of inmates escaped – including as many as 47 convicted al-Qaida militants – in a massive security lapse that the government acknowledged had help from inside.
"Al-Qaida leaders have no intention of leaving this country or letting Iraqis live in peace," said Hakim al-Zamili, a Shia member of parliament's security committee. "The jailbreak in Tikrit has boosted al-Qaida's morale in Iraq and thus we should expect more attacks in the near future."
"The situation in Iraq is still unstable," Zamili added. "And repetition of such attacks shows that our security forces are still unqualified to deal with the terrorists."
Spokesmen for the government and Baghdad's military command could not immediately be reached for comment.
Sunday's deadliest attack struck the town of Taji, a former al-Qaida stronghold just north of Baghdad. Police said three explosive-rigged cars in a Shia neighbourhood went off within minutes of each other, killing eight and wounding 28 in back-to-back blasts that began around 7.15am.
At almost the same time, in Baghdad, police said a suicide bomber set off his explosives-packed car in the north-west Shia neighbourhood of Shula. One person was killed and seven wounded. Police could not immediately identify the target.
"So many people were hurt. A leg of a person was amputated," said Shula resident Naeem Frieh. "What have those innocent people done to deserve this?"
The chain reaction of blasts continued throughout the morning, petering off around noon. Another suicide bomber drove a minibus into a security checkpoint in Kut, 1,100 miles south-east of Baghdad. Three police officers were killed and five wounded.
A military patrol hit a roadside bomb in Tarmiyah, about an hour north of Baghdad, killing two soldiers and wounding six passers-by, officials said. And car bombs exploded outside the northern city of Kirkuk, the north-eastern towns of Balad Ruz and Khan Bani Saad in Diyala province, and in the town of Madain outside Baghdad. In all, seven people were killed.
Also in Baghdad, a double car bomb struck the mostly Shia neighbourhood of Karradah in the most recent episode of an all too familiar insurgent tactic. The first explosion came as a security patrol passed, killing a police officer and a bystander, and wounding eight other people. As emergency services rushed to the scene, the second car blew up, killing three passers-by and injuring 12, according to officials.