Yesterday in Iraq:

Bombings and shootings kill 28 across Iraq

And then there was this:

Al Qaeda Is Back
by Bruce Riedel, The Daily Beast, Jul 26, 2013

Jailbreaks in Iraq. A surge in Syria. A growing presence in Lebanon. The terrorist group’s influence is on the rise, says Bruce Riedel.

Two spectacular al Qaeda prison breaks in Iraq, freeing over 500 of its members in two separate prisons simultaneously this week, demonstrate the group is back with a vengeance. Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch is also the moving force behind the jihadist success in Syria. The resurgence of al Qaeda in Iraq has sobering implications for what is likely to follow the drawdown of NATO forces in Afghanistan for the al Qaeda mother ship in Pakistan.

Reuters update on the Pakistan twin bombings: death toll rises to 52, all the victims Shiites, and a previously unknown group called Ansarul Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack....

Bombs target Iraqi shoppers, killing more than 50
Reuters, Aug 6, 2013 4:40pm EDT

BAGHDAD - A series of car bombs targeting busy markets and shopping streets in and around Baghdad killed at least 51 people and wounded more than 100 on Tuesday, Iraqi medical and police sources said, part of a surge in violence in recent months.

Insurgent attacks have multiplied in Iraq since the start of the year, with more than 1,000 people killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations.

The Interior Ministry, which has said Iraq was facing an "open war" fuelled by sectarian violence, ramped up security in the capital this week by closing roads and deploying additional police and helicopters.

Bombs went off in northern, eastern and southern districts of the capital in quick succession late on Tuesday, in areas crowded with shoppers and worshippers near a mosque [....]

Attacks kill 28 people across Pakistan
By Adil Jawad and Abdul Sattar, A.P., Aug. 6 8:36 PM EDT

KARACHI, Pakistan — A bomb blast that appeared to be targeting a provincial government minister killed 11 people before dawn Wednesday at a soccer field in southern Pakistan, the latest in a series of attacks that left 28 people dead across the country, officials said.

The bomb planted next to the field in the city of Karachi was hidden in a motorcycle, said senior police official Razaq Dharejo. The bomb went off near the vehicle of provincial minister Javed Naghori, who was leaving after witnessing a late-night match between local teams in the Lyari neighborhood, said Dharejo. Naghori escaped unharmed.

The blast killed 11 people and wounded 24 others, said provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon. Many of the dead and wounded were young boys standing near the soccer field when the bomb exploded.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and has a long history of political, criminal and religious violence.

On Tuesday, police found the bodies of 13 people who were pulled off a convoy of buses in southwest Baluchistan province, shot dead and dumped in a ravine [....]

Deadly car bombs rock Iraqi cities; At least 91 dead in string of explosions in Baghdad and other cities during Eid al-Fitr celebrations.

Al Jazeera, 11 August, 2013

[....] Overall, 17 car bombs and a series of shootings and other blasts killed at least 91 people and wounded over 300 across the country Saturday, security and medical officials said, as Iraqis celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holidays which follow the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from the Iraqi capital, said 50 people had been killed in nine blasts in seven areas of the city on Saturday evening, in apparently coordinated strikes.

The blasts hit public markets, cafes, and restaurants [....]

Car Bombings Kill Scores Across Iraq
By Tim Arango, New York Times, August 10/11, 2013

BAGHDAD — As Iraqis flooded the streets of their capital and other cities on Saturday to celebrate Id al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a string of car bombs struck in mostly Shiite neighborhoods, killing more than 60 people, officials said.

The bombings were the latest in a surge of attacks in Iraq this summer — before, during and after Ramadan — that have brought monthly death tolls to levels not seen in nearly five years, according to United Nations figures [....]