[7] On 19 April 2008, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Ayyub al-Masri, called for a month-long offensive against U.S. and Iraqi forces.

However, the offensive is generally considered[citation needed] to have started four days earlier, when a series of suicide bombings in four major cities killed nearly 60 people.

[11] In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a police patrol killed four people and wounded 15 in a central neighborhood.

[13] 21 April 2008: A female suicide bomber attacked a U.S.-allied militia post, killing four people and wounding five others in Baquba.

A second car bombing, this one at a police station in the city, wounded 20 people, including women and policemen.

[21] Meanwhile, another female suicide bomber in al-Saldiya killed one person and injured five people, including the district chief.

[citation needed] 14 May 2008: A suicide bomber attacked a Sunni funeral west of Baghdad killing 22 people.

[30] 18 May 2008: A car bomb hit an Iraqi Army patrol in the Zayouna district of Baghdad killing two soldiers and wounding four others.

[citation needed] 19 May 2008: In the town of Baaj, 130 kilometers from Mosul, gunmen ambushed a bus carrying police recruits killing 11 of them.