DHAKA: A series of bombings across Baghdad killed 33 people and wounded 136, police and medical sources said, extending the worst wave of violence in Iraq in at least five years.

A police source told Al Jazeera that a series of car bombs and suicide bombers exploded in the capital city, as well as in a town outside Baghdad, in at least 10 separate locations.

The deadliest attack struck in the Jisr al-Diyala neighbourhood of southeast Baghdad, with at least seven people killed and 21 others wounded, police and a hospital source told AFP.

But blasts also went off in other major Shiite neighbourhoods including Kadhimiyah and Sadr City.

Most of the bombs on Wednesday morning targeted Shia Muslim-majority areas of the Iraqi capital.

It is the latest in a wave of increased nationwide violence that has sparked concern that Iraq is teetering on the edge of a return to the sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.

Security forces have carried out wide-ranging operations in recent weeks in a bid to combat the unrest, arresting hundreds of alleged fighters and killing dozens of others.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to press on with the anti-insurgent campaign, but analysts say the government should focus on resolving anger in the Sunni Arab community over perceived ill-treatment by the Shia-led authorities and security forces.

Source: Al Jazeera
BDST: 1338  HRS, AUG 28, 2013
RS/BSK