Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to press on with his anti-insurgent campaign, which has reportedly led to the arrest of hundreds of alleged militants and killing of dozens.
But analysts and diplomats say authorities have failed to tackle the root causes the worst violence since 2008, namely anger in the Sunni Arab community over perceived ill treatment at the hands of the Shiite-led authorities and security forces.
Today's violence struck the Baghdad area and in predominantly Sunni Arab towns and cities to the north, but the deadliest of the attacks hit the capital.
The blasts struck a variety of neighbourhoods across the city, and were the latest in a burgeoning trend of militant attacks in the afternoon and evening in Baghdad.
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In previous years, deadly violence has typically been set off during morning rush hour when much of the capital is in gridlock.
Attacks today also hit Salaheddin, Nineveh and Diyala provinces to the north of Baghdad.
In restive Nineveh province, gunmen opened fire on a van ferrying soldiers from Baghdad to their unit in the provincial capital Mosul, killing five of them, an army officer and a doctor said.
Also in Nineveh, three separate attacks by gunmen left a soldier and two civilians dead, including a member of the Shabak minority. The 30,000-strong Shabak community mostly lives near Iraq's border with Turkey.
Two bombings at a house in Baquba, north of Baghdad, killed a child and wounded nine others, according to police and medical sources.