20 people killed in overnight attack in Iraq

Bomb attacks in Iraq overnight killed 20 people and wounded 47, raising the casualties for the day to 38 killed and 91 wounded, the police said on Wednesday.

In central Iraq, a car bomb and a roadside bomb struck the popular Shalal market in Shaab district in the northeastern part of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 12, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

In a separate incident, a car bomb and a roadside bomb ripped through a marketplace in Baghdad's southern district of Doura, killing nine people and wounding 34.

In Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, seven people were killed and 11 wounded when a bomb went off at a popular coffee shop in the town of Hibhib, near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad.

Tuesday overnight attacks raised the toll for the day to 38 people killed and 91 others wounded.

Earlier on Tuesday, the police said 18 people were killed and 44 wounded in attacks, including a suicide tanker truck bombing, in central and northern Iraq during the day.

Tuesday attacks followed a day of a wave of deadly car bomb attacks that swept Baghdad and killed at least 34 people and wounded some 155.

Violence is still common in Iraq despite a dramatic decrease since its peak in 2006 and 2007, when the country was engulfed in sectarian killings.