Iraqi Cities Hit as Car Bombings Target Police; at Least 37 Dead, 126 Hurt

Iraqi cities were hit in bombings today that targeted the police, killing at least 37 people and injuring 126, police and medical officials said.

Car bombs were used in the attacks in Baghdad, Basra, Karbala, Baquba, Kirkuk and Wasit, the officials said in statements.

Violence has picked up in Iraq in recent months amid Iraq’s political impasse and the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops. Terrorists have been emboldened by the power vacuum created by the failure to seat a new government since parliamentary elections in March, Iraqi leaders have said.

The last U.S. combat unit left Iraq on Aug. 18, seven years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Fewer than 50,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, mainly to train Iraqi forces. The U.S. has pulled 94,000 military personnel from Iraq since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.

Vice President Joseph Biden and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said at separate events yesterday that the administration is confident Iraqi forces are capable of taking on the primary security role.

Obama has said all American troops will be out of Iraq by the end of next year, in keeping with an agreement signed by the U.S. and Iraqi governments.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kadhim Ajrash in Baghdad kadhimajrash@yahoo.com; Caroline Alexander in London at calexander1@bloomberg.net.

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