Iraq bombings kill dozens

At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded during Saturday's violence in Iraq. The deadliest of the attacks occurred in the northern neighborhood of Tobchi, where ten people were killed when a car bomb was detonated on a busy commercial street.

Two more attacks took place in the central district of Karrada, including one that hit a busy shopping street that police said killed nine people and injured 17. Further bombings also occurred in Zaafaraniya, Muwasalat, al-Shurta and New Baghdad.

In a separate blast in Madain, south of the capital, five people were killed when a bomb went off near a group of youths crowded on the street, security officers and a medic said.

It was unclear who was responsible for the attacks, which come at a time of heightened sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite fighters in the country. The violence comes a day after 20 people were killed in a suicide bombing inside a crowded Sunni mosque north of Baghdad.

More than 535 people have been killed in militant attacks this month, according to violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count.

The increased violence in the country has raised concerns that the rising sectarian bloodshed could return to the levels seen after the 2003 US-led Iraq invasion, which nearly sent the country into civil war.

dr/jm (AFP, AP, Reuters)