From the Associated Press:
A wave of car bombings and other attacks in Iraq killed at least 58 people in mostly Shiite-majority cities on Sunday, another bloody reminder of the government’s failure to stem the surge of violence that is feeding sectarian tensions.
Iraq is experiencing its deadliest bout of violence since 2008, raising fears the country is returning to a period of widespread killing such as that which pushed it to the brink of civil war following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. More than 4,000 people have been killed in attacks since the start of April, including 804 just in August, according to United Nations figures.
Sunday’s deadliest attack was in the city of Hillah, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, where a car bomb near an outdoor market killed nine civilians and wounded 15 others, a police officer said. A few minutes later, another car bomb went off nearby, killing six civilians and wounding 14, he added.
In the nearby town of Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, another car bomb hit a parking lot, killing four civilians and wounding nine, police said.
Another car bomb went off in an industrial area of the Shiite city of Karbala, killing five and wounding 25, a police officer said. Karbala is 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad. In the aftermath, security officials inspected burnt-out cars in front of what appeared to be a smashed row of workshops.
In Kut, another Shiite-dominated city 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a car bomb targeted construction workers and food stalls, killing two and wounding 14, another provincial police officer said.
Seven more civilians were killed and 31 others were wounded when four separate car bombs ripped through the towns of Suwayrah and Hafriyah outside Kut, police said.
In Baghdad’s northern Sunni-dominated Azamiyah neighborhood, a car bomb that exploded near the convoy of the head of Baghdad’s provincial council killed three and wounded eight, police say. The council head escaped unharmed.
Two other car bombs hit the southern cities of Basra and Nasiriyah, killing eight civilians and wounding 26, two police officers said. And two more civilians were killed when a bomb hit a police patrol in Baghdad’s Sunni western suburb of Abu Ghraib. Nine other people were wounded.
To the northeast of Baghdad, gunmen broke into a farm in the village of Abu Sayda and killed three Sunni farmers, police said
No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, which targeted commercial areas and parking lots in seven cities. But systematically organized waves of bombings are often used by al-Qaida’s local branch, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government.
Sometimes insurgents launch multiple attacks for two or more days in a row. On Saturday, 27 people were killed in suicide attacks, bombings and shootings.
In the afternoon, police found the bodies of four Sunni men killed with gunshots to the head. The men, all relatives, were kidnapped early Sunday by gunmen who stormed their house in Baghdad’s southern Youssifiyah suburb.
Police and hospital officials also said that a car bomb exploded at night in a commercial street in Baghdad’s eastern neighborhood of Mashtal, killing five people and wounding 15 others.
Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures for all the attacks. All spoke anonymously as they weren’t authorized to release information.
From Antiwar.com:
The start of the workweek began with a series of bombings across Baghdad and the Shi’ite south. At least 82 people were killed and 205 more were wounded. Shootings and bombing also took place throughout the country, but most of the casualties occurred south of the capital.
A pair of near-simultaneous bombs at a Hilla market killed at least 15 people and wounded at least 34 more. At least two more bombs and four more deaths were reported.
In Baghdad, a bomb targeting the provincial council head killed three bodyguardsand wounded eight others, who were traveling in Adhamiya, but not the official. A bomb in Shula killed three people and wounded eight more. In Mashtal, a bomb killed two people and wounded seven more. A sticky bomb injured a driver in Abu Dsheer. In Mustansiriya, a bomb killed one person and wounded four more. Gunmen stormed a Rashid home where they killed a Sahwa leader, his wife and two children.
In Kut, nine people were killed and at least seven more were wounded in yet another bomb attack.
Outside of Kut in the towns of Suwayra and Hafriya, four separate bombs killed seven people and wounded 31 more.
Eight people were killed and 26 more were wounded in a pair of bombs in Basra Nasariya.
Five people were killed and 25 more were wounded in a bombing in an industrial district of Karbala.
A bomb killed four people and wounded nine more at an Iskandariya parking lot.
Two bombs near Kirkuk in Debis killed two people and wounded sixteen more.
A bomb targeting police killed two bystanders and wounded nine more in Abu Ghraib.
Gunmen killed three Sunni farmers in Abu Saida.
Three travelers were shot dead in Shirqat.
In Taji, a would-be suicide bomber was shot dead. A sticky bomb wounded a Sahwa member, his wife, and child.
In Mosul, an I.E.D. wounded two soldiers. Gunmen killed a civilian. A policeman was gunned down. A second civilian was gunned down.
Gunmen killed a man in Mualimeen.
In Falluja, a car bomb killed two bombers and wounded four family members at their home. Five people were wounded in a separate explosion.
A bomb in Buhriz wounded three people.
In Mussayab, two people were wounded in a blast.
Gunmen injured a soldier at a checkpoint in Jurf al-Sakhar.