(Thumbnail Image: BBC)

It was the bloodiest day Iraq has seen this year. More than 100 people died in a series of coordinated bomb attacks. This just three months before U.S. combat troops are set to withdraw, and raises doubts about whether the country is stable enough.

South Africa's NewsTime suggests the recent uptick in violence is bad news for Iraq's future.

"Any thoughts that Iraq had stabilised would have evaporated... While incidents of violence had seemed to be dropping off, the failure to install a government post-elections has occasioned fears of the return of sectarian violence."

On its website, Al Jazeera English provides an interactive map of where the attacks took place, and the accompanying article isn't hopeful about U.S. troops' goal of a smooth withdrawal.

"There is no doubt that this type of violence could have an impact on the timetable of the U.S. forces withdrawal timetable... [E]vents like today undermine that sense of confidence and undermine that the Iraqi security forces are in fact in place to take over..."

NBC reports officials suspect al-Qaida for the attacks, and gives more details on the wide scale destruction of the bombings.

"The deadliest attack occurred when two car bombs exploded killing at least 25 people. Suicide bombers killed at least 13 in a marketplace south of Baghdad. And gunmen, equipped with silencers, killed at least seven Iraqi soldiers and policemen at a checkpoint in Baghdad. ... Monday's attacks come as Iraq's political future remains unclear, now two months after an inconclusive national election."

The BBC counts 328 deaths in Iraq in the month of April, that's only slightly fewer than the year before.

Writer: Newsy Staff

Producer: Newsy Staff