Baghdad, Aug 11 (IANS): More than 60 people were killed and over 200 others wounded in a wave of bombing attacks across Iraq Saturday, mostly in Baghdad, according to officials and local media.
A total of 12 car bombs went off in Baghdad, mostly targeting markets, restaurants and cafes, killing more than 30 people and injured over 100 as Iraqis celebrated the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, Xinhua reports.
Five people were killed and 18 others injured when two car bombs exploded in Shaab area in northeastern Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua.
Four others were killed when a car bomb blew up in Kadimiya district in northern Baghdad.
Also, a car bomb exploded in Sadiya district in Baghdad, killing three people while another blast in Abu Dshir in the city killed two and wounded 11.
One person died when a car bomb ripped through New Baghdad area. Another car bomb attack in Al Amil area injured 14 people.
Also Saturday, five people were killed and 11 others wounded in a car bomb attack near a popular market in the holy city of Karbala, some 100 km southwest of Baghdad.
Overall, some 16 car bombings and other attacks killed more than 60 people and wounded over 200 across Iraq Saturday, according to latest data.
Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in five years.
In July, more than 1,000 Iraqis were killed and more than 2,300 wounded in acts of terror and violence, the deadliest month in more than five years, according to UN data.
The dire situation raises fears that the country is sliding back to the full blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007, when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.
The US government blamed Al Qaeda for Saturday's attacks in Iraq, calling the attackers "enemies of Islam".
Describing them as "cowardly attacks" that bear the hallmarks of similar suicide and vehicle bomb attacks in Iraq over the past 90 days, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said most of the attacks "have been perpetrated by Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)," which is led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also known as Abu D'ua.
"These attacks were aimed at families celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The terrorists who committed these acts are enemies of Islam and a shared enemy of the United States, Iraq, and the international community," Psaki said.
The US has offered a $10 million reward for information that helps authorities kill or capture Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, now based in Syria and who has changed the name of AQI to the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham.
Washington's response came after it temporarily closed embassies and missions across the Islamic world last week on alert of increased threat of potential terror attacks.