Iraq bombings leave 7 dead amid surge in violence

Iraqis walking past burnt out vehicles after car bombing in Baghdad  Attacks in Baghdad and across central Iraq, including five car bombs, killed at least seven people on Tuesday amid a surge in violence, as parliamentary elections loom next month. The blasts, which also left more than 30 people wounded, come with Iraq suffering its worst level of violence since 2008, when the country was emerging from brutal sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
The surge in unrest has been driven principally by discontent among Iraq's Sunni Arab minority and by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, and has killed more than 2,000 people already this year, according to an AFP tally.
Attacks on Tuesday struck in Baghdad, as well as in the nearby Karbala, Diyala, Salaheddin and Wasit provinces, leaving seven dead and 32 wounded overall, according to security and medical officials.
Separate blasts in the capital -- a car bomb and a roadside bomb -- left three people dead, while vehicles rigged with explosives were also set off near Karbala, Baiji and Hafriyah, killing three others.
A magnetic "sticky bomb" in the restive province of Diyala, meanwhile, killed a municipal council member.
Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since sectarian bloodletting in 2006 and 2007 left tens of thousands of people dead.
More than 250 people have been killed so far this month and upwards of 2,000 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on reports from security and medical sources.
Source: AFP