At least 18 people were killed and 55 wounded in a series of car bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital Thursday, police said.
The attacks occurred almost simultaneously during Baghdad's rush hour. One of the car bombs went off in the crowded district of Alawi, near the Green Zone, which houses the Iraqi government offices and some foreign embassies, killing four people and wounding 12 others, a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Another ripped through a parking lot in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhmiyah, killing seven people and wounding 20 others, the source said.
The other attacks were in the downtown area of Bab al-Mu'dham, where five died and 13 were injured, and in al-Qanat Street in the capital's east, where two died and 10 were wounded, the source said.
Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, raising fears the country is sliding back into the full-blown civil conflict of 2006 and 2007, when monthly death tolls sometimes exceeded 3,000.
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq recently reported more than 1,000 Iraqis were killed and more than 2,300 wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in July, the deadliest month in more than five years.