Iraq's interim prime minister has vowed to crush Baathist fighters and foreign militants he blamed for killing 100 people yesterday in suicide bombings and attacks.
"These are isolated incidents," said Mr Iyad Allawi. "We are going to defeat them. . . . We have been expecting this escalation and we are expecting more escalation in the days ahead."
Three US soldiers were among those killed yesterday's bold assaults on Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and the mainly Sunni Muslim cities of Baquba, Falluja and Ramadi.
Iraq's third largest city Mosul was the worst hit, with four suicide bombings killing 62 people, including a US soldier, and wounding 220, a senior military official said.
Mr Allawi said the attacks showed signs of loose co-ordination between groups intent on destabilising Iraq and warned of more bloodshed before and after the June 30th handover, when US-led occupation formally ends and Mr Allawi's government takes over.
Mr Allawi told reporters late last night he believed Ansar al-Islam, a group linked to Jordanian militant Abu Musab Zarqawi, was behind the Mosul bombings.
He blamed Baathists loyal to deposed dictator Saddam Hussein for the attacks in Ramadi and Baquba.
A group led by Mr Zarqawi, who Washington says has links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement on an Islamist website.