A series of bombings and gun assaults across Iraq has made Monday one of deadliest days of the year in Iraq, with at 82 people dead and more than 130 injured, and those numbers are likely to rise. The attacks included at least 17 explosions in Baghdad, Kirkuk and other cities, as well as an assault on a military base by gunmen who killed 15 Iraqi soldiers.

The majority of attacks appeared to target security services, with police checkpoints, government buildings, and army bases on the list of bomb locations. But as expected, the bombings often killed more civilians and bystanders than police, and several of the attacks were indeed launched on residential areas, mainly in Shia-dominated neighborhoods. One of the biggest explosions hit an office where residents gather to receive government ID cards. Another bomb in the city of Taji, was followed by a second explosion timed to target rescue workers who had descended on the scene.

The number of bombings has been on the rise in recent weeks, as the terrorist group Al-Qaeda in Iraq recently promised a "new stage of our struggle." June was bloodiest month the country has seen since U.S. troops left at the end of last year and today's attacks demonstrate that they are still capable of coordinating complex large-scale operations. 

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Dashiell Bennett