21 killed in Baghdad car bombings

BAGHDAD - Up to 21 people were killed and 99 others wounded in eight car bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Monday, an interior ministry source said.

A car bomb and a roadside bomb ripped through Um al-Maalif area in southern Baghdad, killing up to six people and wounding 34 others, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Another car bomb went off in Kadhmiyah district in northern Baghdad, killing two people and wounding eight others, the source said.

In central Baghdad, a third car bomb exploded at a popular marketplace near Shorja commercial area, leaving three people killed and ten others wounded, the source added.

Meanwhile, a car bomb went off at a thoroughfare in Baiyaa district in the southern part of the capital, killing two people and wounding nine others, he said.

In eastern Baghdad, a civilian was killed and 15 wounded when two car bombs detonated in Habibiyah area, the source added.

The six car bomb attacks followed two car bombings in the afternoon in the capital. The source said that a car bomb went off in Saadoun Street in downtown Baghdad, killing up to six people and wounding some 14.

He also said that another car bomb went off near al-Samarrai mosque in New Baghdad district in the southern part of the capital, killing a civilian and wounding nine.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks, but the al-Qaida front in Iraq, in most cases, were responsible for such massive attacks in the country, raising fears that the terrorist group and other militia could return to widespread violence.