A wave of explosions tore through overwhelmingly Shiite cities south of Baghdad shortly before the Muslim faithful broke their Ramadan fasts, killing at least 23 and wounding dozens, according to officials, part of a surge of violence that is raising fears Iraq is sliding back toward full-scale sectarian fighting.
The coordinated attacks followed shootings and bombings in the north earlier in the day that killed six others.
Today's explosions struck shortly before the evening iftar meal that ends the daylong fast during Ramadan.
Violence in Iraq has risen to its deadliest level since 2008, with more than 2,700 people killed since the start of April.
At least eight people were killed and 15 were wounded in the southern port city of Basra when a car bomb and then a follow-up blast went off near an office of a Shiite political party, according to two police officers.
Police reported additional explosions that left four dead in Karbala, five in Nasiriyah and six in Musayyib. Hospital officials confirmed those casualty tolls.
Officials say a powerful explosion also struck the cities of Kut, but they were unable to provide casualty figures. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorised to release the information to reporters.
Earlier in the day, police said gunmen killed two soldiers in an assault on their security checkpoint in the restive city of Mosul, 360 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.
Hours later, a roadside bomb killed a municipal council member and his son in a town near Mosul. Gunmen in another area just south of Mosul also sprayed a security checkpoint with bullets, killing two policemen.
