Wave of attacks mainly targeting Shiites kills nearly 50 people in Iraq, officials say

BAGHDAD – A wave of car bombings and other attacks mainly targeting Shiite areas of Iraq killed at least 47 people on Tuesday, including more than 20 in the capital Baghdad, officials said.

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were likely carried out by Sunni militants. The extremist Islamic State group, which seized a third of the country in a lightning offensive over the summer, has claimed similar previous attacks.

In the deadliest attack, a car bomb in northwestern Baghdad killed eight people and wounded 15. Another car bomb in a different area killed seven and wounded 21, and a mortar attack killed seven and wounded 13 elsewhere in the capital, police said. All three attacks targeted Shiite-majority areas.

Earlier Tuesday a car bomb killed four civilians and two policemen in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of Baghdad. Another 16 people were wounded in the blast.

Another explosives-laden car went off in the town of Iskandariyah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Baghdad, killing five civilians and wounding 13 others. Fourteen other civilians were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad and outside the southern city of Najaf.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.