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| Iraq violence: Baghdad car bombs kill at least 66 | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| At least 66 people have been killed in a series of car bombs targeting mainly Shia areas in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, police say. | |
| Many more were wounded as at least a dozen explosions hit busy shopping areas and markets in the city. | |
| There has been a recent marked rise in attacks in Iraq linked to growing political and sectarian tension. | |
| It has raised fears of a return to the levels of sectarian violence seen in 2006 and 2007, in which thousands died. | It has raised fears of a return to the levels of sectarian violence seen in 2006 and 2007, in which thousands died. |
| Busy areas | Busy areas |
| On Monday, one bombing struck the busy commercial area of Sadoun Street in central Baghdad. | |
| One bystander who saw that attack, Zein al-Abidin, said a four-year-old child was among the victims. | |
| "What crime have those innocent people committed?" he asked. | "What crime have those innocent people committed?" he asked. |
| Twin blasts in Habibiya, on the edge of the sprawling Shia area of Sadr City, killed 12 people. They went off close to used car dealerships, wrecking dozens of cars. | |
| "Guards are here, and a car explodes here," shouted Fadhel Hanoun, according to AFP news agency. | |
| A used car dealer, he said that not only had people died, but many had lost their savings, locked up in cars they had hoped to sell. | |
| "How can we understand this?" he said. "This is a failed state." | |
| Other neighbourhoods targeted included al-Maalif, where six people died, according to the Associated Press news agency. | |
| Deadly blasts were also reported in the eastern New Baghdad area, Sabi al-Boor, Shaab, Hurriya, Bayaa, Sadria, Jisr Diyala, Baladiyat and Madain, about 20km (12 miles) south of the city centre. | |
| 'Discrimination' claim | |
| No group has said it carried out the attacks, but Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda have previously used co-ordinated explosions to target Shia Muslims, whom they regard as apostates. | |
| Tensions between the Shia Muslim majority, which leads the government, and minority Sunnis has been growing since last year. | |
| Sunnis have accused the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of discriminating against them - something the government denies. | Sunnis have accused the government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of discriminating against them - something the government denies. |
| Mr Maliki has vowed to make immediate changes to Iraq's security strategy, saying militants "will not be able to return us to the sectarian conflict". | |
| Monday's bombings come a week after more than 70 people were killed and many others injured in a series of attacks across the country, in what was described as one of the worst days for sectarian violence in Iraq for several years. | Monday's bombings come a week after more than 70 people were killed and many others injured in a series of attacks across the country, in what was described as one of the worst days for sectarian violence in Iraq for several years. |
| Baghdad was worst hit, with several explosions at bus stations and markets in mainly Shia Muslim districts. | Baghdad was worst hit, with several explosions at bus stations and markets in mainly Shia Muslim districts. |
| The UN says more than 700 people were killed in April, the highest monthly toll in almost five years. | |
| Estimates put the number of deaths this month at more than 450. |