32 die in Baghdad blasts

At least 32 people were killed and 152 injured in a series of bomb attacks in the Iraq's capital Baghdad Wednesday, police said.

The attacks occurred during the morning rush hour when 12 car bombs went off in Baghdad, while a suicide bomber struck a restaurant in the nearby town of Mahmoudiyah, an interior ministry source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

One of the car bombings ripped through Sadr city neighbourhood in eastern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 17, the source said.

Another car bomb went off at al-Doulai district in the northwestern part of Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 20.

A car bombing occurred in New Baghdad district, leaving five people dead and 15 injured.

In Saidiyah district in southern Baghdad, a car bomb explosion killed two and wounded 14.

Another car bomb hit Jesr Diyala district in southeastern Baghdad and killed six people and injured 21.

In Baiyaa district, one person was killed and 12 wounded in car bombing, while in Shula district, another car bomb attack killed two people and wounded 11.

Earlier, a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at a police checkpoint in Hurriyah district in the northwestern part of Baghdad, killing at least three people and wounding eight.

Another suicide bomber set off his explosive vest at a restaurant in the town of Mahmoudiyah, 30 km south of Baghdad, killing two people and wounding nine.

Two more car bombs struck a crowded intersection in Baghdad's northeastern district of Shaab, killing three people and wounding 15.

Another car bomb went off at a wholesale market in Jamiela area in eastern Baghdad, killing at least one and wounding 10.

Meanwhile, police explosive experts defused a car bomb at Shula district in northwestern Baghdad without causing any casualties.

The toll in Wednesday attacks could rise as ambulances and civilian cars evacuated the victims to different hospitals and medical centres in the city, the source said.