At least 30 people have been killed and scores injured in a wave of bomb attacks targeting mainly the Shia Muslims in Iraqi cities and towns, media reports citing local officials said late on Sunday.
The day's first attack was a car bomb explosion in the industrial area of the city of Kut, killing three people and wounding 14 others. It was quickly followed by another one outside the city in which two construction workers were killed and 12 wounded.
Hours later, at least five people were killed in the southern Shia-dominated oil-rich city Basra after two car bombs exploded almost simultaneously in the city center. Similar attacks were reported from the cities of Nasiriyah, Mahmoudiya, Najaf, Madain and Hillah.
Further, at least four people were killed and five injured after unidentified gunmen attacked security personnel guarding a remote stretch of an oil pipeline near the city of Mosul, located some 225 miles north of capital Baghdad.
Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Iraqi authorities blamed the al-Qaeda-linked Sunni Islamist insurgents who are still active in the war-torn country despite ongoing efforts to improve security.
When compared to the deadly sectarian violence witnessed in 2006 and 2007, violence has dropped across Iraq in recent years. Nevertheless, the country still witnesses frequent militant attacks, mostly sectarian in nature, on a regular basis.
According to the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), a total of 1,045 Iraqis were killed and another 2,397 wounded in acts of terrorism and violence in May, making it one of the deadliest months on record. The worst affected by the recent violence was the Shia-dominated areas of capital Baghdad.
Growing tensions triggered by continued attacks on Shias by Sunni and al-Qaeda militants across Iraq in recent months have raised fears of a possible return of the levels of sectarian violence witnessed at the height of insurgency. Iraq's Sunni minority accuses the country's Shia-led government of marginalizing and targeting their community.
There has been a notable increase in violence since U.S. combat forces left Iraq at the end of 2011. The last of U.S. combat troops left the country late December 2011, ending a decade-long American military presence after the 2003 invasion of the oil-rich Middle East nation.
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