Already, insurgents seem to be testing Iraq’s ability to maintain security, with a series of deadly bombings that has killed almost 200 people in recent days. The Pentagon has downplayed the recent spike in violence in Iraq.

On Wednesday, a bomb attached to a motorcycle killed 78 people at a market in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad, which is already under Iraqi control.

Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at the Century Foundation, joins Martin Savidge to discuss whether Iraqi security forces are ready to take control and what role U.S. forces will continue to play in Iraq after the pullout from cities.

Recent attacks have raised new concerns about the abilities of Iraq’s security forces.

On Friday, for a second day in a row, the Iraqi capital of Baghdad was hit with a devastating bombing attack.

At least 60 people were killed when two suicide bombers blew up explosive belts within minutes of each other near the city’s most important Shiite shrine.

These latest attacks have raised new concerns about the abilities of Iraq’s security forces. In Washington on Friday, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, General David Petraeus, cautioned that progress in Iraq continues to be fragile and reversible.

Blogger “Mhmd” in Baghdad reacts to a nearby bombing:

i feel un-euphoric.

i’m at friends house on the pc while he’s answering about a million phone calls from family members.

There’s been multiple explosions and the victims were people. Real living smiling crying people. I’m speechless. I just have no idea what to say or do.

Blogger “Layla Anwar” writes from Iraq, saying that she has grown numb:

These days, when there are news of explosions going on in Baghdad and its vicinity, like daily, I avoid reading the full story. I just read the headlines.

I don’t want to know anymore.

I don’t want to know the number of dead, I don’t want to know the exact location, I don’t want to know how it happened, who did it, what time, the names, age and sex of the victims…I just don’t want to know anymore.

I say to myself, if it is anyone I am related to, I will find out about it…sooner than later. Right now, I just don’t want to know because — am saturated.

I am saturated with deaths, killings, explosions, people disappearing, people in detention, people in need, people in distress, people losing their homes — am saturated with numbers, with names of places, with stories and memories that have developed a life of their own now - settling themselves in my mind, in my waking and sleeping hours, like unwanted tenants who have appropriated your private space, like armed gangs who have taken over your home…and there is absolutely nothing you can do to evict them.

The “Eye Raki” blog writes that overall conditions are improving in Iraq:

Despite the recent lapse in security, things for the most part have been steadily improving. If only the terrorists knew that with every car bomb and suicide attack their chance of a future in Iraq goes further and further down the drain. I mean all the terrorists. The Ba’athists still dreaming of a united Arab nation, the Arabs still dreaming of a Caliphate, and the Shia militia still dreaming of their own country. The recent attacks in Baghdad have not been different from previous attacks. Still cold-blooded, still indiscriminate, still cowardice.

Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy’s blog explores the significance of the rise in attacks:

I don’t think that we’re seeing the “great unravelling” quite yet, nor that we’re yet seeing a return to higher levels of violence, insurgency and civil war.   But the increased violence and the growing chorus of complaints about the failures of political accommodation should be a cautionary note to the Iraqi government and to the major political players that time is running out to make the crucial political power-sharing agreements necessary before American troop withdrawals pick up their pace.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user jamesdale10 under a Creative Commons license.

The Indian state of Assam has been troubled for years by ethnic tension and violence. Dozens of separatist groups have been fighting the government and each other in the region.

Martin Savidge talks with Asia Society fellow Sadanand Dhume to learn who might be behind the bombings and how they relate to the recent surge of violence in the region.

Shahan Mufti of the Christian Science Monitor reports from Islamabad.

A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 30 and wounded 100 when he drove into a gathering of tribesmen who were in the midst of plans to combat insurgents in the country.

Since the beginning of the year, 28 bombings have killed over 471 people in Pakistan by suicide bombers — more deaths than either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Shahan Mufti of the Christian Science Monitor speaks with Martin Savidge from Islamabad about the escalating violence in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari’s ability to handle the insurgency and the challenges of dealing with various opposition forces.

Ghassan Shabaneh speaks with Martin Savidge about the timing of the attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, the role of the U.S. military surge and Iran’s goals in the region.

Syria had experienced fewer bombings compared to neighboring countries. Photo: CIA World Factbook

AUDIO: Nicholas Blanford of The Christian Science Monitor discusses the relationship between Syria and Lebanon and possible motivations for the attacks.

A car bombing left 17 civilians dead in the Syrian capital of Damascus over the weekend — the deadliest attack in Syria in over two decades.

Global Voices Online provides a translation from an eyewitness in Damascus.

Blogger “Qunfuz” discusses the Syrian government’s failure to protect its citizens and the media’s treatment of the attack.

Blogger “Sasa” from Damascus derides rumors about the perpetrators and their motivation, urging people to think of the victims rather than politics.

The “Counterterrorism Blog” reviews possible suspects and theorizes that the Syrian Mukhabarat (an intelligence service) was behind the bombing as a “prelude to attack Sunni strongholds inside Lebanon.”

Andrew Lee Butters of Time’s “Middle East” blog talks about what the bombing will mean for Syria.

Today, an attack on the Lebanese military left at least five dead. Experts have said the attacks in Syria and Lebanon are connected, pointing to an influx of insurgents from Iraq as one source of violence. Syria and Lebanon have recently attempted to establish diplomatic ties.

Officials inspect the bomb site in Morelia.

Deborah Bonello is a multimedia journalist based in Mexico City and works for The Los Angeles Times Mexico Bureau. She blogs at MexicoReporter.com.

Morelia: Informality characterizes bombing investigation

It’s been a few days since I returned from the bomb site in Morelia, Michoacán. I visited there on Wednesday; two days after a double-grenade attack in the city’s centre during its Independence Day celebrations killed eight people. The death toll rose from 7 to 8 at the weekend when a 13-year-old boy died from him injuries.

During that trip, my colleague and I visited both sites where the grenades detonated. One went off in the city’s central plaza – the other a few blocks away on a street corner.

Since then, I’ve had some time to reflect on the question everyone is asking: who is responsible for those bombs? And perhaps more importantly, I’ve had time to speak to ordinary Mexicans about their thoughts on what it going on.

I’ve always felt, during my time here in Mexico that because I was a foreigner there was always a fog hanging over the world of politics and public life. That maybe there are subtleties that I just don’t get because Spanish isn’t my first language.

But what I’ve found this week is that the fog is there for everyone – Mexican or not. Not many people have much of a clue of what’s going on in this country, and are reduced to speculating or drawing up their own hypothesis based on their own, limited, personal experiences to provide answers.

To read more, visit the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of the blogger.

Violence continues in New Delhi, the capital of India.

A gun battle erupted in New Delhi this morning, leaving two suspected Islamic militants dead and one other in custody.

Watch a video of police, media and residents live on the scene in New Delhi.

At least one of the dead was allegedly involved in the series of bombings that killed 21 people and wounded 97 less than a week ago. A group calling itself the Indian Mujahedeen claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Blogger “Ravinder Kaur” examines how these attacks are part of the global network of terrorism and takes a look at the evolving perceptions of “India’s war on terror.”

The “Indian Muslims” blog claims that Indian Muslims have been “framed collectively as terrorists,” citing examples of hostility toward Indian Muslims, who make up 13.8 percent of India’s population.

An editorial in The Daily Star says the bombings confirm “the existence of Islamist terrorism in India,” pointing to a growing divide between the majority and minority populations in India.

On Wednesday, a survey emerged showing an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment in India and across Asia and Europe.