Iraq: Wave of car, suicide blasts kill at least 61

A barrage of car bomb and suicide bomb blasts rocked Baghdad and two northern Iraqi communities today, killing at least 61 people during a major holiday period and extending a relentless wave of bloodshed gripping the country.
The bulk of the blasts struck in mainly Shiite Muslim parts of the Iraqi capital shortly after nightfall, sending ambulances racing through the streets with sirens blaring.
Authorities reported nine car bomb blasts across Baghdad, including one near a playground that killed two children.
Iraq is weathering its deadliest outburst of violence since 2008, raising fears the country is returning to the widespread sectarian killing that pushed it to the brink of civil war in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Iraq's resurgent branch of al-Qaeda is believed to be behind much of the killing as part of its campaign to undermine the Shiite-led government.
Today's bloodshed began early in the morning when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives-laden car among houses in an ethnic minority village in northern Iraq. That attack, in the Shabak village of al-Mouafaqiyah near the restive city of Mosul, 360 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, killed at least 15 and wounded 52, police said.

Another suicide bomber struck hours later, setting off an explosives belt inside a cafe in Tuz Khormato, killing three and wounding 28, police chief Col Hussein Ali Rasheed said.

The attacks struck as Muslims around the world this week mark the religious holiday of Eid al-Adha.
The Baghdad explosions went off in quick succession after sunset as families were heading out to parks, coffee shops and restaurants, police said.
Back-to-back car bombs exploded about two blocks apart in the mainly Shiite neighbourhood of Husseiniyah, killing a total of 11 and wounding 22, authorities said.
Other mainly Shiite neighbourhoods hit were the southeastern New Baghdad, where four died and 12 were wounded, and the eastern Sadr City, where a car bomb near a playground killed five, including two children, and wounded 16.

Another car bomb exploded near a restaurant in the northeastern Shiite neighbourhood of Gareat, killing seven and wounding 14, authorities said.
Elsewhere, a suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into a police checkpoint in the southern district of Dora, killing five people, including three police officers, and wounding nine, authorities said.
Two parked car bombs exploded near an outdoor market and shops in the mixed Shiite and Christian neighbourhood of Garage al-Amana, killing eight and wounding 15.
The predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Shurta also was hit, with three killed and 12 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a commercial street, authorities said.