DHAKA: Car bombs exploded in several predominantly Shia Muslim neighbourhoods of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 54 people and wounding dozens.

Police and medical sources said, reports daily Hurriyet.

The deadliest single attack took place in Sadr City, where a man parked a white car packed with explosives near a place where day labourers had gathered.

The vehicle blew up soon afterwards, killing at least seven people, including two soldiers.

‘The driver said he would move it soon, but the car exploded a few minutes later,’ said Abu Mohammed, a worker at the scene.

Footage from the scene showed the remains of a car torn in two surrounded by damaged taxis and bits of metal melted in the heat of the blast.

Altogether 14 car bombs exploded across the Iraqi capital in apparently coordinated attacks. It was not clear who was behind them, but hardline Sunni Muslim militants who view Shias as non-believers have been intensifying their insurgency this year.

Iraq’s delicate sectarian balance has been strained by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, where mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to overthrow a leader backed by Shia Iran.

Both Sunnis and Shias have crossed into Syria from Iraq to fight on opposite sides of the conflict.

BDST: 2031 HRS, SEPT 30, 2013
RoR/SRS