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| | Iraq: 'Many killed' in series of bombings | | | BAGDAD, July 3(Agencies): At least 25 people have been killed and 40 wounded in a truck bombing at a market in the Iraqi city of Diwaniya.
Dozens more have been killed and wounded in bomb attacks in cities across the country, reports say.
In the central city of Karbala, four people were killed when two car bombs targeting Shia pilgrims exploded.
There has been a spike in attacks across Iraq in recent weeks. June was the bloodiest month in the country since US troops withdrew in December.
The Diwaniya blasts took place in a market near a Shia mosque where pilgrims were gathering to make the 130km (80-mile) journey to Karbala for a religious festival, according to Reuters.
Eyewitness Salah Abbas told AP news agency: "There were many charred bodies on the ground. People were screaming and crying."
Police have imposed a partial curfew and closed all entrances to the city, the agency says.
Body parts
The Shia community is celebrating the Shabaniyah festival, which marks the anniversary of the birth of a key Shia Imam. It reaches its peak on Friday.
It is thought the earlier blasts on the eastern outskirts of Karbala were also aimed at pilgrims. At least 30 people were injured.
Footage from the scene showed the twisted wreckage of cars, and a large area strewn with fruit and vegetables.
Eyewitness Ahmed Hassan, whose butcher shop is nearby, told Reuters news agency: "We even saw body parts on top of the building."
There were also twin blasts in the Sunni city of Taji, the site of a military base 20km (12 miles) north of Baghdad.
Three people were killed there - including a policeman, and 15 were injured, according to officials.
There are also reports of an attack in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, north of Baghdad. According to AFP, one policeman died and another was injured in that attack.
No group has said it had carried out for any of Tuesday's blasts.
The chairman of the Qadisiyah provincial council, Jubair al-Jabouri, blamed the Diwaniya attacks on Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda. |
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