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Iraq unrest: Car bombs rock Baghdad Shia districts | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
At least 13 people have been killed and 62 wounded in four separate car bomb attacks in Shia districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police have said. | |
Eight died when a bomb blew up close to day labourers waiting for jobs in Sadr City. Minutes later, a blast about 3km (1.9 miles) away killed another two. | |
Later, car bombs exploded in Shula and Hurriya, killing three. | |
There has been a rise in attacks in Iraq since US troops left last month, leaving as many as 170 people dead. | There has been a rise in attacks in Iraq since US troops left last month, leaving as many as 170 people dead. |
The violence has come amid a marked deterioration in Iraq's fragile political process, with the country's most prominent Sunni Arab politician being sought by the authorities on terrorism charges. | |
Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi has denied the accusations against him and fled to the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq. | Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi has denied the accusations against him and fled to the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq. |
The biggest bloc in parliament, al-Iraqiyya, has accused Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, of using the law to consolidate his grip on power, and is boycotting parliament and cabinet sessions in protest. | The biggest bloc in parliament, al-Iraqiyya, has accused Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, of using the law to consolidate his grip on power, and is boycotting parliament and cabinet sessions in protest. |
Al-Iraqiyya's leader, Iyad Allawi, said last week that Iraq needed a new prime minister or elections to ease sectarian tensions. | |
Students killed | |
Monday's bombings appeared to once again target the majority Shia community, which has borne the brunt of attacks in the past month. | Monday's bombings appeared to once again target the majority Shia community, which has borne the brunt of attacks in the past month. |
One of the day labourers who had been waiting for work in Sadr City when the first bomb exploded said it was "like a black storm". | One of the day labourers who had been waiting for work in Sadr City when the first bomb exploded said it was "like a black storm". |
"I felt myself thrown on the ground," Ahmed Ali told to the Reuters news agency. "I fainted for a while then I woke up and hurried to one of the cars to take me to the hospital." | |
The target of the second attack was not clear, with some reports saying the car bomb exploded near a bakery and others near people queuing to buy heating fuel. | |
Later in the morning, car bombings rocked two other predominantly Shia districts in the north of the capital in quick succession. | |
In Shula, a parked car blew up near a school, killing at least two students and injuring 16 others, most of them also students, officials said. | |
Five minutes later, a bomb exploded on a busy commercial street in neighbouring Hurriya, leaving one person dead and another 13 hurt. | |
Officials said a roadside bomb also exploded on the Muthanna airport road in central Baghdad, wounding at least six people. |