A wave of deadly bombings struck the capital, Baghdad, Thursday, while the governor of Anbar province reportedly escaped an assassination attempt when bombs exploded near his convoy, injuring four of his bodyguards. This follows a number of bombings in Baghdad on Monday that killed more than 50 people.

Martin Kobler, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), condemned the attack against the governor’s convoy.

In a news release issued in Baghdad, he also voiced his dismay at the horrific toll of lives lost following the “new criminal wave of attacks against innocent civilians,” particularly targeting the capital.

“Systemic violence is ready to explode at any moment if all Iraqi leaders do not engage immediately to pull the country out of this mayhem,” Mr. Kobler stated, reiterating the call he made on the country’s leaders earlier this week.

On Wednesday, in an exchange of views with European parliamentarians, Mr. Kobler voiced serious concerns over the heightened level of violence in Iraq and the dangers of the country falling back into sectarian strife, if decisive action is not taken by its political leaders.

“The country stands at a crossroads,” he stated, calling for a stronger European Union role in dealing with the developments unfolding in the country, and for increased interaction with the Iraqi Council of Representatives.

“Such attacks aim to heighten tensions in this particularly sensitive region, and I call on all people of Iraq to resist vicious attempts to undermine their thrive for peace and stability,” said the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Martin Kobler in a news release.

According to media reports, a suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 100 at a funeral near a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq on Wednesday. The attack reportedly wounded at least two senior Iraqi Government officials.

Mr. Kobler urged all Iraqi leaders to live up to their responsibilities, including “taking all necessary measures to work without delay on defusing such an alarming situation.”

He also expressed his profound sympathy to the families of the victims, to whom he extended his sincere condolences, and wished a speedy recovery for those who were injured.

Over the past month, Mr. Kobler has repeatedly called for an end to violence directly targeting civilians, after a wave of attacks in northern Iraq targeting individuals in crowded areas and the killing of a Member of Parliament who died in a terrorist attack during a demonstration in Fallujah last week.

The three vehicles were part of a four-vehicle convoy of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which was in Khan Cheikhoun, when an improvised explosive device was detonated around mid-afternoon local time, Ahmad Fawzi, the spokesperson for the Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States for the Syrian crisis, Kofi Annan, told reporters in Geneva today.

“Three UN vehicles were damaged, no UN personnel were injured,” Mr. Fawzi said in response to questions. “The Mission has sent a patrol team to the area to extract the UN military observers.”

The crisis in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.

On Wednesday last week, a bomb blast went off in the vicinity of a convoy of UNSMIS observers, which had been approaching the southern city of Dar’a. The blast injured several Syrian soldiers accompanying the delegation.

Authorized by the Council last month under resolution 2043, UNSMIS is tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria and supporting the full implementation of Mr. Annan’s six-point plan.

The plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

“There were no casualties among the observers, but several Syrian soldiers were injured and taken to hospital,” the spokesperson, Ahmad Fawzi, said in response to media questions in Geneva.

The observers are serving with the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which was authorized by the Council last month, and is tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria and supporting the full implementation of a six-point plan put forward by Mr. Annan.

“[UNSMIS' Chief Military Observer] General Mood told reporters accompanying his convoy that this was an example of what the Syrian people were suffering on a daily basis and that all forms of violence must stop,” the spokesperson added.

Mr. Annan’s plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

The crisis in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.

State-run SANA agency blamed “terrorist gangs” for the Saturday explosions and reported detonated vehicles packed with explosives had been used. Most of the casualties were civilians, state television said. The channel broadcast interviews with Syrians who held responsible for the explosions, the United States and Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who they said had sent terrorists.

The attacks come two days after the one-year anniversary of the start of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

It was not the first time bombers have struck in Damascus, the heart of Assad’s power base. There were three alleged suicide bombings in the capital between December and January, which the government blamed on al-Qaeda.

Ban Ki-moon extended his sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims and the people of Syria and called for an immediate end to the violence while yesterday, the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of

Arab States for Syria, Kofi Annan, said he would send a team to the country to continue negotiations on proposals he has presented to the leadership as he tries to find a peaceful solution to the year-long bloody crisis.