15 killed, 90 wounded in fresh attacks in Iraq

At least 15 people were killed and 90 others wounded in violent attacks across Iraq on Tuesday, said the police.

A car bomb went off near the Abu Ghraib Grand Mosque, a Sunni mosque in Abu Ghraib area, 25 km west of the capital Baghdad, on Tuesday evening, killing eight people and injuring 15 others, a police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The explosion also caused damage to a number of civilian cars and buildings nearby, he added.

Earlier in the day, three Iraqi soldiers were killed and seven others wounded in an attack by an armed group at a base of the Iraqi army in Tarmiya, some 30 km north of Baghdad, according to a police source.

Meanwhile, at least three people were killed and more than 43 others wounded when two car bombs exploded in the Hussein district in Tuz Khormato, some 170 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

Also, a civilian was killed and 25 others were injured when three bombs exploded in quick succession in a sheep market in the Auraba district of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad, the source added.

Tuesday's violence came amid escalation of sectarian tension between the Sunni and Shiite communities, which has been at its highest level since the U.S. troops pulled out from the country at the end of 2011.

On Monday, a series of car bombs and shootings mainly targeting Shiite areas across Iraq killed at least 70 people, including several Iranian pilgrims, and wounded over 200, apparently in an attempt to stir up sectarian strife among Iraqis.