At least 70 people have died and 270 have been injured in Iraq after members of the Iraqi resistance staged a coordinated pre-dawn uprising in five cities and towns today. Most of the attacks targeted U.S.-backed Iraqi security forces. The worst violence was in the northern city of Mosul where at least 40 people died and 60 were injured. Iraqis also died in attacks in Baghdad, Baquba, Ramadi and Falluja. In Fallujah a U.S. Cobra helicopter was shot down. The U.S. bombed portions of Falluja and Baquba. At least three U.S. soldiers also died today. The coordinated uprising comes less than a week before the scheduled so-called handover of power to Iraq. The attacks also come one day after Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi vowed to assassinate Iraq’s selected prime minister Iyad Allawi. Zarqawi is a Jordanian who the U.S. claims has ties to Al Qaeda and is leading the Iraqi resistance.