Deadly car bombs rock Iraqi cities

Image:Aljazeera

At least 20 people killed in Shia areas while 11 others die in blasts in southern city of Basra, police and medics say.

At least 31 people have been killed in a series of car bombs across Iraqi cities, police and medics say.
Eight car bombs in mainly Shia districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killed 20 people on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said.

Explosions were also reported in the city of Samarra but there was no immediate word on casualties.
Scores of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shia who now lead Iraq have reached their highest level since US troops pulled out in December 2011.
Two car bombs hit Basra, a predominantly Shia southern city 420km southeast of Baghdad.

The first bomb struck the Hananiya neighbourhood, near a busy market and restaurants, and the second was detonated inside a bus terminal in Saad Square, police and medics said.
More than 700 people were killed in April by a UN count, the highest figure in almost five years. Relations are coming under more strain by the day from the increasingly sectarian conflict in neighbouring Syria.
Minority Sunnis, embittered by Shia dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by US-led forces in 2003, have also been staging street protests against Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki since December.
Al Jazeera's Omar al-Saleh, reporting from the northern city of Erbil and citing police sources, said at least eight car bombs had exploded.

He said the attacks were a continuation of violence that has gripped the country for the past week.
"For the past week more than 150 people [have been] killed and the government [is] basically saying that whoever is behind the attacks wants to re-ignite sectarian strife," said our correspondent.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The government has been quick to point an accusing finger at groups with links to al-Qaeda, said our correspondent.

Source: Aljazeera