At least 63 people have been killed and around 285 wounded in a coordinated series of bombings in Shi'ite districts across Baghdad.
Eleven coordinated car bombs rocked Shiite districts across the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, just two days after Al-Qaeda gunmen stormed a church in the heart of the capital and took dozens of worshippers hostage.
In that siege, 46 were killed and 60 wounded in a drama that ended with a raid by Iraqi special forces.
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"Thirty-six people were killed and 320 wounded, but 80 percent of the wounded were treated and have left hospital," Health Minister Saleh al-Hasnawi said on state television.
Shiites targeted
An interior ministry official said that all of the bombs targeted Shiite districts of the capital, and some had exploded near cafes or restaurants.
The biggest were in the eastern Husseiniyah and northern Kadhimiyah districts.
In a separate incident, four mortar rounds struck the mixed Shiite and Sunni district of Ghazaliyah earlier in the day, but there was no immediate report of possible casualties.
The interior ministry announced an immediate curfew in eastern Baghdad, closing off the attacked districts from the rest of the capital.
There was already a regular curfew in effect across the capital from midnight to 5:00 am.
Deadlock
Iraq has been without a government since inconclusive March 7 elections, in which the Shiite-led State of Law bloc of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki finished a narrow second behind Iyad Allawi's Sunni-dominated Iraqiya group.
Both have been locked in back-room negotiations with different political blocs, but neither has been able to muster the majority needed to form a government.
The power vacuum has contributed to an increasing sense of insecurity, with militants seen as seeking to take advantage of the situation.
Tuesday's bombings and the attacks on Christians come as Iraq is trying to stagger back to its feet following the 2003 US-led invasion and the violence that followed, including an insurgency by Al-Qaeda militants and inter-confessional violence.
The car bombings and the attack on Christians are a blow to the country's efforts to attract foreign investment and technology to rebuild the war-wrecked country.
Violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically since its peak in 2006-2007 but casualties from insurgent and military action are still routine.
October saw the least violence since November 2009, according to an official casualty toll released this week.
A total of 194 Iraqis were killed last month, including 53 Sunday during the hostage drama. Seven of the dead were security force personnel were killed.
