BAGHDAD: Iraq has halted the dismantling of blast-proof concrete security walls in Baghdad following devastating truck bombings last week that left 95 people dead, government officials said on Sunday.

The decision is a step back from Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s plan to remove the walls to show that Iraq’s security situation was improving.

Wednesday’s bombings at the Finance and Foreign ministries also left about 600 people wounded in what was the country’s worst day of violence in 18 months.

The decision to stop dismantling the so-called T walls was taken shortly after the attacks, high-ranking officials from the Defense and Interior ministries said on condition of anonymity.

The sources did not say whether some of the barriers that have already been taken down would be re-erected in the wake of Wednesday’s attacks, the deadliest since US forces pulled out of urban centers at the end of June.

The walls are T-shaped concrete barriers about three meters (10 feet) high and linked with heavy-duty metal cables to protect against explosives.

On Sunday, Foreign Ministry staff were seen erecting a new line of T-walls and the nearby streets remained closed to traffic.

“We will re-examine our strategy on security matters,” Baghdad Gov. Salah Abdul Razzaq said during a visit near the ministry.

“It is possible we will close certain places to ensure security,” he said, adding that the bombers had exploited the Iraqi people’s desire to see the concrete barriers removed, ultimately making it easier to conduct the attacks.

Premier Maliki said on Saturday that Iraq had taken “decisive measures to tackle the weak points” exposed by Wednesday’s bombings.

On Thursday, he ordered the arrest of 11 senior security officers so that they could be questioned on how a four-ton truck had entered an area where even two-ton vehicles are barred.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari went further, saying Iraq would witness more deadly attacks in the coming months because security forces are colluding with insurgents and the violence is getting worse.

He also made the first official admission that the blasts signaled security gains made in the past year have recently appeared to unravel, and called for a re-appraisal of the country’s entire security apparatus, saying it was not obtaining sufficient intelligence to counter the insurgent threat.