Bombings and shootings in Iraq killed 13 people today, as the death toll from a coordinated wave of late-night car bombings and other attacks the day before jumped past 70, authorities said.
The explosions were the latest in a relentless surge in bloodshed that has rocked Iraq since the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan on July 10. They follow months of surging violence across the country that is raising fears of a return to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 US-led invasion.
The deadliest of today's attacks came in the afternoon, when gunmen attacked a checkpoint manned by the Kurdish security forces known as peshmerga near Kirkuk, killing five peshmerga fighters.
The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is 290 kilometres north of Baghdad.
Last night's blasts went off after the sundown "iftar" meal that breaks the daily Ramadan fast. Streets during the holy month are often filled with people out shopping and relaxing in cafes in the evenings, suggesting the attackers aimed to hit as many civilians as possible.
"What crime have those innocent people committed?" asked Kadim Mohsen, who was surveying the damage in the central neighborhood of Karrada. Several storefronts were wrecked by the force of an explosion there, and broken watermelons and sandals littered the street.
"Who will compensate owners of those shops?" he asked. "We see explosions every day. We blame the army and police."
As the scale of the carnage became clearer early today, police reported that a total of 12 car bombs went off in Baghdad late yesterday. They said the blasts and a shooting in the same area as one of the explosions killed 57, including some who died in the hospital overnight. More than 125 were reported wounded.
Those attacks and others around Iraq yesterday killed a total of 71, according to police and hospital officials.
That made for the country's deadliest day since May 17, when a series of explosions in Sunni areas in and around Baghdad killed at least 76 people.
