13 killed in car bomb attacks in Baghdad

A series of car bomb explosions across the Iraqi capital Baghdad Sunday left at least 13 people killed and 46 wounded, police said.

The attacks started at about 9.00 a.m. when a car bomb went off at a popular market in Sabie al-Bour district, in the northern part of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 12, Xinhua reported.

Later on, another car bomb detonated at a marketplace and a nearby parking lot in al-Huriyah district in northeastern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding 10 others.

Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded at a market in Mashtal district in eastern Baghdad, leaving four people killed, while a fourth car bomb struck a popular market at Shaab district killing four people.

More blasts occurred in the city, but no immediate reports were available about their exact locations and casualties, a source said.

The toll could rise as ambulances and civilian cars evacuated the victims to different hospitals and medical centers.

Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, which raises fears that the country is sliding back to the civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007 when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.