(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A series of car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 70 people in predominantly Shiite districts, police and medics said.
It was not immediately clear who had carried out the attacks, which appeared coordinated, but Salafi militants, including an al Qaeda affiliate, have been striking with a ferocity not seen in years.
Eleven car bombs were set off in Shia neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital Baghdad within minutes of each other.
Tuesday's deadliest single blast took place in Baghdad's northern Talbiya neighbourhood, where a car bomb in a busy street killed nine people and wounded 28.
In the Hussainiya district on the northern outskirts of the capital, two car bombs exploded in quick succession, killing ten.
"I saw a fireball and a huge cloud of smoke. We couldn't approach immediately fearing a second bomb, but we could hear the screams of people asking for help," said Ali Jameel, a policeman in a patrol stationed in Hussainiya.
"A minute later a second blast happened nearby. Bodies were lying on the ground and some of the wounded were crawling to distance themselves from the blaze, leaving a trail of blood behind them".
At least 12 more were killed, and dozens injured, in the other bombings.
At least 14 more people were killed in incidents earlier today.
The explosion of the car bomb, which was parked near Iskaniya complex in Dora area of southern Baghdad, resulted in killing two civilians and wounding seven others.
Another car bomb killed two and injured seven others in Jbala, a town just south of the capital.
Seven civilians were killed or wounded when an improvised explosive device exploded in Baya'a area of southwestern Baghdad.
In another car bomb, which exploded at a popular market in Baghdad al-Jadeeda area, resulted in killing five persons and wounding 16 others.
The explosion of the car bomb, which was parked on a roadside in Maamel area of eastern Baghdad, resulted in killing a civilian and wounding six others.
The car bomb, which was parked on a roadside of Zafaraniya area, exploded on Tuesday evening and resulted in killing two persons and wounding six others.
Another car bomb which exploded in Al-E'lam area resulted in ,killing two persons and wounding seven others.
Five civilians were killed and wounded due to an explosion of a car bomb in Karrada area of central Baghdad.
The incidents are the latest in a string of attacks across Iraq that have left more than 4,500 people dead since the beginning of 2013.
According to the United Nations, a total of 1,057 Iraqis, including 928 civilians, were killed and another 2,326 were wounded in terrorist attacks throughout the country in July -- the deadliest month since 2008.
About 800 Iraqis were killed in August, according to the United Nations, with more than a third of the deadly attacks happening in Baghdad.
Earlier on Tuesday, gunmen stormed the house of a Sunni, pro-government militia member in southern Baghdad and beheaded him, along with his wife and three children, police and medics said.
Separately, four unidentified bodies were found in different places in Baghdad. All of the victims had been handcuffed, blindfolded and killed.
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3 September 2013 - 19:30
News ID: 459081
A series of car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 70 people in predominantly Shiite districts, police and medics said.
