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Baghdad hit by wave of deadly car bombs | Baghdad hit by wave of deadly car bombs |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A series of car bomb blasts in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 42 people and injured many more, officials say. | |
The blasts targeted markets and car parks in mainly Shia Muslim districts of the city. | |
There has been a recent upsurge in sectarian violence, sparking fears of a return to the bloodletting of 2008. | There has been a recent upsurge in sectarian violence, sparking fears of a return to the bloodletting of 2008. |
More than 5,000 people have been killed so far this year, according to United Nations data. | |
Monday's blasts struck during Baghdad's morning rush hour, with reports of 13 bombs, most of them in Shia neighbourhoods. | |
Groups of labourers gathering ahead of the working day were among the bombers' targets. | |
One of the deadliest attacks was reported from the eastern Sadr City district where seven people were killed and 75 injured in a crowded vegetable market. | One of the deadliest attacks was reported from the eastern Sadr City district where seven people were killed and 75 injured in a crowded vegetable market. |
Another six were reported killed in Shuala, a mainly Shia area of north Baghdad. | Another six were reported killed in Shuala, a mainly Shia area of north Baghdad. |
The city neighbourhoods affected also included New Baghdad, Habibiya, Sabaa al-Bour, Kazimiya, Shaab and Ur, as well as the Sunni districts of Jamiaa and Ghazaliya, the Associated Press news agency reports. | |
War goes on | |
No-one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been blamed for much of the most recent violence. | No-one has claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have been blamed for much of the most recent violence. |
The interior ministry accused rebels linked to al-Qaeda of exploiting political divisions and regional conflicts to sow violence. | |
"Our war with terrorism goes on," interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan told AP. | |
The recent upsurge in violence was triggered in April by an army raid on a Sunni Muslim anti-government protest camp near Hawija, north of Baghdad. | |
Many in the country's Sunni Muslim minority complain of being excluded from decision-making and of abuses by the security forces. Recent raids in Baghdad on suspected al-Qaeda hideouts in mainly Sunni districts are thought to have worsened grievances. | |
One of the bloodiest attacks over the past few weeks was a double bombing in a funeral marquee in Sadr City on 21 September, which left more than 60 people dead. | |
Several dozen people died in a wave of attacks on Sunday, including another explosion at a funeral. | |
A suicide bomber attacked a Shia Muslim mosque south of the city, causing the roof to collapse. More than 40 people are now known to have been killed in that incident. | |
Irbil, the normally stable capital of Iraq's autonomous province of Kurdistan, was hit by a series of bombings on the same day, killing six members of the security services. Officials said that violence could be linked to fighting between jihadists and Kurds in Syria. |