Bombs kill 69 in Iraq's deadliest day this year

BAGHDAD - The bloodiest day of the year so far in Iraq left at least 69 people dead in a series of bombings in mainly Shia areas Friday - concerted attacks seen as demonstrating the resilience of the Sunni-led insurgency after the slaying of two al-Qaida leaders last weekend.

No one has taken responsibility for the blasts, but officials were quick to blame Sunni-led insurgent groups for attacking at a particularly fragile time as Iraq awaits formation of a new government and prepares for U.S. troops to go home by the end of next year.

The protracted political wrangling since contentious March 7 elections has raised fears of sectarian violence akin to that seen at the height of the war.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lashed out at the bombers in a statement Friday night, saying the insurgents were trying to fight back after Iraqi security forces killed the two al-Qaida in Iraq leaders on April 18.

"The cowardly terrorist attacks that occurred today were intending to cover the great success achieved by the security forces through the killing of the leaders of wickedness and terrorism, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri," al-Maliki said. Officials have warned that the insurgents remain capable of staging high-profile bombings despite the killing of their two leaders.

Friday's apparently coordinated attacks came in a two-hour span shortly after the Shias' call to prayer across the capital. The major blasts were in former Shia militia strongholds, underscoring the insurgents' professed aim of provoking a new round of sectarian bloodshed. Among the targets of the car and roadside bombs were three Shia mosques.

In the vast eastern Baghdad slum of Sadr City, hundreds of worshipers knelt on prayer mats in the streets surrounding the offices of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr when the deadliest blasts went off. Four strategically located car bombs timed to maximize the carnage killed at least 36 people and wounded nearly 200, according to hospital and police officials.

April has been the deadliest month in Iraq so far this year, with more than 263 civilians killed, according to an Associated Press count.