Bombings and attacks hit more than a dozen Iraqi cities Monday, killing at least 60 people.

Iraqi officials say suicide bombings and other explosions struck targets from the northern city of Kirkuk, to the capital, Baghdad, to the southern city of Kut.

Authorities say the worst violence was in Kut, where two explosions killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 60 others.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have expressed concern about the country's ability to handle security after U.S. forces withdraw at the end of the year.

in Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney condemned Monday's attacks and said the U.S. would “consider” staying in the country if Iraqis requested that U.S. soldiers remain. He added that overall violence has decreased in the Middle Eastern nation.

Also in southern Iraq, police say car bombs killed at least three people in the city of Najaf. Another car bomb killed at least two people in Karbala.

In the north, authorities say two suicide bombers targeted a government anti-terrorism unit in Tikrit, killing at least three people, including two police officers.

Elsewhere in the north, police say multiple bombings in Diyala province killed at least eight people, while two separate blasts in Kirkuk killed one person and wounded 12 others.

Iraqi officials said earlier this month they plan to open talks with the United States about keeping a U.S. training mission in the country after the scheduled December pull-out.