Iraq attacks leave at least 30 dead

The attacks pushed the three-day Iraqi death toll to more than 100, shattering a recent lull and adding fresh doubt to the ability of government forces to protect people without US soldiers by their sides. American combat troops have already begun moving from inner-city outposts to large bases outside cities.

Overall levels of violence remain low, but Iraqi officials have warned that militants will probably carry out more attacks to erode public confidence in the government as the Americans pull out of cities by June 30 - the first step toward a full withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011.

Many Iraqis support the withdrawal timeline, outlined in a security pact that took effect this year. But others fear militants will regroup without the visible presence of US soldiers.

“There aren’t enough Iraqi army and police and they’re ill equipped to confront the terrorists,’’ said Abdul-Salam Mohammed, a 33-year-old car dealer in a former insurgent stronghold north of Baghdad. “The pullout is not in our interest at this moment because we are still in the recovery phase.’’

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged over the weekend that more violence was likely but insisted Iraqi forces were ready. He called on Iraqis to remain steadfast in their support.

The violence yesterday mainly struck Shi’ite neighborhoods in the Baghdad area, starting with a roadside bombing of a minibus carrying high school students from Sadr City to final exams.

Police said the attack killed at least three students and wounded 13 people, but the US military said one civilian was killed and eight wounded. Conflicting casualty tolls are common after bombings in Iraq because victims are often taken to multiple hospitals.

The bus was pockmarked with shrapnel, with blood-soaked notebooks and ID cards left on the seats and the floor.

A bomb planted under a car also exploded on a road leading to a checkpoint that controls access to a bridge into Baghdad’s central Green Zone. The blast killed at least five people and wounded 20, according to police and hospital officials. The US military put the toll at two killed and six wounded.

A roadside bomb later targeted a police patrol in another mainly Shi’ite district in eastern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 25, police said.

Hours later, a parked motorcycle loaded with explosives blew up in an open-air public market in an impoverished, predominantly Shi’ite area northeast of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 22, police and hospital officials said.

A suicide car bomber also targeted the mayor’s offices in Abu Ghraib, a predominantly Sunni district west of Baghdad, killing seven civilians, police said.

The car exploded before reaching the government building, US military spokesman Major David Shoupe said. He gave a lower casualty toll: four killed, along with 10 wounded, including three US soldiers.

North of the capital and near the Iranian border, a roadside bomb struck an Iraqi army patrol, killing three Iraqi soldiers near Khanaqin, according to the security headquarters in Diyala province.

Gunmen also killed at least seven people in separate attacks in the northern city of Mosul, according to police reports.