Wave of car bombs kills 20 in south Iraq: officials

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmqjJS8TYf-mP14azBFQNeSl-NXxZSkQMmH-mR9pVeWMX7NPPT7klhyphenhyphen8CnKBojPS8ufQ2mrzMlo0TyoRfXKQ-vCTr3tNWYlLx9OHOMhc5iT0WWdoMPyz1xiJ40_L7iw36BEFG5gSwdXs/s1600/51bd6b89ad73d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFmqjJS8TYf-mP14azBFQNeSl-NXxZSkQMmH-mR9pVeWMX7NPPT7klhyphenhyphen8CnKBojPS8ufQ2mrzMlo0TyoRfXKQ-vCTr3tNWYlLx9OHOMhc5iT0WWdoMPyz1xiJ40_L7iw36BEFG5gSwdXs/s1600/51bd6b89ad73d.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>BAGHDAD: A wave of car bombs in southern Iraq killed 20 people on Sunday as the country grapples with a spike in violence and prolonged political deadlock, sparking fears of all-out sectarian war.</b><br /><br />In all, seven vehicles rigged with explosives went off in five cities south of Baghdad during morning rush hour, leaving 56 people wounded in primarily Shia Muslim areas of Iraq.<br /><br />No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militant groups linked to Al-Qaeda frequently target Shia, whom they regard as apostates, in coordinated attacks.<br /><br />Car bombs went off in Kut, Aziziyah, Mahmudiyah, Nasiriyah and Basra, officials said.<br /><br />In Kut, provincial capital of Wasit and 160 kilometres (100 miles) south of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded outside a restaurant in an industrial area packed with vehicle repair garages, killing seven people and wounding 15.<br /><br />Another car bomb in nearby Aziziyah in the town's main marketplace and near a Shia mosque killed five and wounded 10.<br /><br />Twin blasts in the southern port city of Basra, meanwhile, killed five people, including a bomb disposal expert looking to defuse one of the rigged vehicles.<br /><br />Three others were killed in bombings in Nasiriyah and Mahmudiyah.<br /><br />The violence was the latest in a spike in attacks nationwide, with last month registering the highest death toll since 2008, sparking fears of a return to the all-out sectarian war that blighted Iraq in 2006 and 2007.<br /><br />Analysts say a lack of effort by the Shia-led authorities to address the underlying causes of the demonstrations has given militant groups fuel and room to manoeuvre to carry out their activities.</div>

Wave of car bombs kills 20 in south Iraq: officials

BAGHDAD: A wave of car bombs in southern Iraq killed 20 people on Sunday as the country grapples with a spike in violence and prolonged poli...

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