The protests had been largely peaceful, but insurgents, emboldened by the war in neighboring Syria, stepped up attacks in the initial months of 2013.

[9] The assault in Kirkuk began when a suicide-bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the front gate of a local police intelligence building.

Guards at the entrance opened fire at another bomber, who managed to detonate his suicide vest, as a firefight began with a group of six insurgents.

[3] After being repulsed by security forces, the remaining attackers, some of them wearing suicide vests, stormed the nearby Jawahir mall and took between 10 and 20 people inside hostage.

In the capital Baghdad, gunmen killed a medical director near the Yarmouk hospital and a man who runs a private generator in Ghazaliya.