Car Bombs Kill Nearly 80 in Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A series of car bombs in mainly Shiite areas of Baghdad killed 57 people and wounded more than 150 on Saturday.
The 12 separate blasts targeting markets, busy shopping streets and parks where families like to mark Eid al-Fitr were part of a surge in violence in Iraq since the start of the year, Reuters reported.
The latest bombings were similar to attacks in Baghdad on Tuesday in which 50 died.
More than 1,000 Iraqis have been killed in July, the highest monthly death toll since 2008, according to the United Nations.
Outside Baghdad, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a car on a busy street in the town of Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of the capital, killing at least 10 people and wounding 45, medical and police sources said.
Tuz Khurmato is located in a particularly violent region over which both the central government and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan claim jurisdiction.
Police believe the bomber was trying to reach the local headquarters of a Kurdish political party, but was unable to reach the building because of increased security in the area, a police source said.
In the town of Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, twin car bombs near a park killed six people and wounded 25, police and medical sources said.
Car bombs also hit the Shiite city of Kerbala, killing four and wounding 11, and targeted a Shiite mosque in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing one worshipper and wounding five.
In recent months insurgents have moved beyond attacking shopping districts to targeting youths playing football and people watching matches on television at the Baghdad cafes which have dared to stay open.
