In a violent incident, 24 people were killed in a mosque in central Iraq in a bomb attack. The attacks came a day after a spate of coordinated bombings in west Iraq killed 10 people. The recent violence was the worst in Tikrit since a March 29 Al Qaeda raid on the city’s provincial council offices, which led to a bloody hours-long gun battle with security forces that left 58 people dead. The two days of violence raise questions over the ability of Iraqi forces to secure the country, with 45,000 American troops due to withdraw at the end of the year under the terms of a bilateral security pact. Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common. A total of 177 people died in May as a result of violence, according to official figures.1

• 1. “Bombers kill 24 at Iraq mosque, hospital,” Khaleej Times, June 4, 2011, at http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2...