Blasts kill 57 decade after Iraq invasion

BAGHDAD: A wave of bombings tore through the Baghdad area yesterday, killing 57 people on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion and showing how unstable Iraq remains more than a year after the withdrawal of American troops.
The symbolism of yesterday’s attacks was strong, coming 10 years to the day that Washington launched the invasion with a “shock and awe” campaign of airstrikes on March 19, 2003.
Yesterday’s apparently coordinated attacks included car bombs and explosives stuck to the underside of vehicles. They targeted government security forces and mainly Shiite areas, small restaurants, day laborers and bus stops over a span of more than two hours. The violence started at around 8 a.m. when a bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in Baghdad’s Mashtal neighborhood, killing four people.