A new wave of car bombs ripped through commercial areas in the Iraqi capital and areas to the south Tuesday, killing at least 33 people and wounding dozens in the latest coordinated militant assault, officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosives-laden parked cars that detonated Tuesday. But their targets, shopping streets and bus stations, are frequently hit by the al Qaeda breakaway group that is the country’s main Sunni insurgent force, as it tries to undermine government efforts to maintain security. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL or ISIS), has taken credit for similar attacks before.
In Baghdad, four such bombings killed at least 17 people and wounded 49 others. The deadliest hit a bus station, leaving seven dead and 18 wounded.
Police say another four bombs went off simultaneously in the southern city of Hillah, killing at least 11 people and wounding 35 others. Hillah is about 60 miles south of Baghdad. Outside Hillah in the town of Musayyib, about 40 miles south of Baghdad, a parked car bomb explosion killed five civilians and wounded 13.
Medical officials confirmed the figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.
