74 killed in Iraq's deadliest day in a year

KUT: Attacks in more than a dozen cities killed 74 people nationwide on Monday, including 40 in twin blasts blamed on Al-Qaeda in the southern city of Kut, in Iraq's bloodiest day in more than a year.

The surge of violence raises questions over the capabilities of Iraq's forces after its leaders agreed this month to open talks with the United States over a military training mission to last beyond a projected year-end American withdrawal.

The attacks, which took place in 18 cities and also wounded more than 300 people, were quickly condemned by the White House and the United Nations, as Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi blamed security leaders for unspecified "violations".

In the worst attack, a roadside bomb in the centre of Kut, 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Baghdad, at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) was followed minutes later by a nearby car bomb.

Ghalid Rashid Khazaa, health spokesman for Wasit province, of which Kut is the capital, put the toll at 40 dead and 65 wounded, with women and children among the casualties.

The attack was the worst single incidence of violence in Iraq since March 29, when Al-Qaeda commandos staged a massive assault on provincial government offices in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, that killed 58 people.

"Today's attacks were not a surprise," said Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta, who said several other attacks planned for Monday had been disrupted.

"Every three or four months, Al-Qaeda carries out operations in order to prove they are still here."

Also on Monday, eight gunmen wearing army uniforms stormed a mosque in the town of Yusifiyah at 9:30 pm (1830 GMT), calling seven anti-Qaeda militiamen by name before taking them outside and killing them in front of bystanders, an interior ministry official said.

The official said the gunmen identified themselves as members of the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's front group, before fleeing.

In Tikrit, meanwhile, three policemen were killed and at least seven wounded when two suicide bombers detonated their explosives-packed vests inside the city's anti-terror headquarters.

The attackers were wearing police uniforms and sought, unsuccessfully, to free Al-Qaeda fighters being held in a jail in the office.

In the restive province of Diyala, north of Baghdad, eight people, including four soldiers, were killed and 35 wounded in a series of attacks in provincial capital Baquba and five other cities, Diyala health department spokesman Faris al-Azzawi said.

Two car bombs, the second of which was set off by a suicide attacker, blew up in the holy city of Najaf, provincial police chief General Abdul Karim Mustafa said. A provincial health spokesman said seven people were killed and 60 wounded.

A car bomb east of Karbala, another holy city in Iraq's south, killed three people and wounded 63 others, provincial health director Nidhal Mehdi said.

Separate explosions in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk killed one and wounded 14, while twin blasts in the western city of Ramadi left one dead and injured seven others.

Two car bombs and three roadside bombs killed two people and wounded 30 in Baghdad, and bomb attacks in Taji and Balad, just north of the capital, killed one and injured 14.

Twin blasts in the northern city of Mosul also left one dead and three wounded, police said, and an explosion in the town of Iskandiriyah, south of Baghdad, injured four. (AFP)