30 Dead in Fresh Wave of Iraq Violence

Bombings and shootings killed more than 30 people across Iraq today, including high school students on their way to final exams, in a new round of violence ahead of next week's deadline for US troops to withdraw from urban areas. The attacks came two days after the year's deadliest strike, a truck bombing that killed at least 75 people near Kirkuk.

Monday's violence mainly struck Shiite neighborhoods in the Baghdad area, starting with a roadside bombing of a minibus carrying high school students from Sadr City to their final exams. At least three students were killed in the attack, which left the bus pockmarked with shrapnel and littered with blood-soaked notebooks and ID cards.
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