Separate bombings in Iraq kill at least 37

BAGHDAD — A series of bombings Thursday struck commercial areas in central Iraq, killing at least 37 civilians, authorities said.

Most of the blasts came from explosives-rigged parked cars and one by a bomb that ripped through an outdoor market, police said.

In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting shoppers in the southwestern Amil neighbourhood killed seven people and wounded 17, police said. A bomb at a cafe in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighbourhood killed four people and wounded 15, authorities said. Another bomb in a commercial street in central Baghdad killed three people and wounded 13, police said, while an explosion near the Green Zone killed three people and wounded eight.

In Hillah, located about 95 kilometres south of Baghdad, two car bombs killed nine civilians and wounded 28, police said.

A police officer said an explosion killed four people and wounded 10 in the nearby town of Iskandariyah, about 50 kilometres south of the capital.

In Mishada, about 30 kilometres north of Baghdad, a car bomb killed five civilians and wounded 14, another police officer said. A bomb in Baghdad’s southeastern suburb of Jisr Diyala killed two civilians and wounded seven, police said.

Three medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release the information.

The attacks came a day after a series of explosions killed at least 24 people in different parts of Iraq. Such bombings have increased since last year, along with Sunni anger over perceived mistreatment and random arrests of Sunnis by the authorities.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but they bore the hallmarks of Al Qaeda and other Sunni insurgents, who frequently use car bombs and suicide attacks to target public areas and government buildings in their bid to undermine confidence in the government.