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Wave of bombings hit Baghdad

Eight car bombs and two roadside bombs exploded in eight areas in and around Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 21 people and wounding at least 98.

A parked car bomb exploded near the al-Mahdo mosque in Baghdad on Friday March 29, killing or wounding several worshipers. (AP)
(File: AAP)

A wave of car and roadside bombs have hit Baghdad province, killing at least 21 people, while eight security forces members died in other attacks.

The Baghdad attacks are just the latest co-ordinated bombings to strike Iraq's capital in recent weeks, as the country witnesses its worst violence since 2008.

This year's surge in violence has raised fears of a relapse into the kind of intense Sunni-Shi'ite bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people.

Eight car bombs and two roadside bombs exploded in eight areas in and around Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 21 people and wounding at least 98, officials said.

AFP journalists heard one of the blasts in central Baghdad, followed by emergency vehicle sirens.

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The attacks came a day after two bombings in the capital, including a suicide attack against Shi'ite pilgrims, killed 14 people.

Other attacks targeted Iraqi security forces on Monday, killing eight.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that "what Iraq is being exposed to is a big conspiracy that aims to create strife and sectarianism among the sons of one society".

He also said there was a plan to move Syria's bloody civil war to Iraq.

Diplomats and analysts say the Shi'ite-led government's failure to address the grievances of Iraq's Sunni Arab minority - which complains of political exclusion and abuses by security forces - has driven the surge in unrest.

Violence worsened sharply after security forces stormed a Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23, sparking clashes in which dozens died.

The authorities have made some concessions aimed at placating anti-government protesters and Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-Al-Qaeda fighters, but underlying issues remain unaddressed.


2 min read

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Source: AAP



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