A spate of bomb attacks in and around Baghdad, the deadliest of which targeted Shia areas in the capital, killed at least 12 people on Tuesday, officials said. The violence comes amid a political stand-off in Iraq pitting the Shia-led government against the main Sunni-backed political bloc, stoking sectarian tensions barely a month after US troops completed their withdrawal.
In the deadliest attack, two bombs exploded within half an hour of each other in the capital's Sadr City Shia bastion, killing six people and wounding 32, an interior ministry official said. The first bomb ripped through a group of workers at around 6:45 am (0345 GMT) while the second exploded outside a bakery. Among the wounded were two women and a child.
Two car bombs in north Baghdad targeted secondary schools, with one exploding in the north-western Shula district, killing two people and wounding 16, and another killing one person and wounded 13 in the Al-Hurriya neighbourhood, the official added. The bombings are the latest in a spate of attacks against Shias, which have risen since US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq on December 18.