Iraqi officials say a wave of bombings struck Shi'ite neighborhoods, security forces and other targets across the country Sunday, killing at least 32 people and wounding scores of others. At least eight cities and towns were hit.

The deadliest attack occurred in Taji, a former al-Qaida stronghold just north of the capital, Baghdad. Three car bombs went off within minutes of each other there, killing 11 people and wounded more than 24 others, including several policemen.

A suicide bomber in the southern city of Kut killed at least three police officers and wounded several others. And in Balad Ruz, northeast of the capital, a car bomb killed two policemen. Other areas hit with attacks included Baghdad’s Karrada neighborhood, where multiple car bombs killed at least four people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s deadly explosions, but car bombs have been routinely used by al-Qaida’s local affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq. The group says it has begun a new offensive against mainly Shi’ite targets in Iraq.

Three weeks ago, a similar wave of bombings killed more than 90 people during a 24-hour period that coincided with an Iraqi court sentencing the country’s fugitive Sunni vice president to death for murder.

Iraq’s bloodshed peaked in 2006-2007 when sectarian fighting killed thousands of people.

Source: VOA News