24 July,2012 07:36 AM IST | | Agencies
The coordinated attacks in 13 cities sent a chilling warning that al-Qaeda is slowly resurging in the security vacuum created by a weak government in Baghdad and the departure of the US military seven months ago.
Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq declared on Sunday a new offensive aimed at sowing instability across the country.
Nearly 200 people were wounded during the onslaught. Spokesmen for Iraq's government and Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could not be immediately reached for comment.u00a0
13 The number of cities that were attackedu00a0