Iraq violence: Bomb blasts leave at least 11 dead

Several bomb blasts in Iraq have killed at
least 11 people and wounded dozens more
in the latest eruption of violence, officials
say.

The blasts, including at least one car bomb,
targeted the capital, Baghdad, and the northern
city of Mosul.

There has been a recent upsurge in violence across
Iraq amid rising sectarian and political tension.
The UN has said more than 700 people were killed
in April - the highest monthly toll in almost five
years.

At least one car bomb killed four people in north-
eastern Baghdad on Thursday, police said.
Another two people were killed and a dozen more
wounded in a bombing in the centre of the capital.
In the northern city of Mosul, three policemen were
killed in an early morning suicide attack.

The dramatic escalation in attacks in recent weeks
has raised fears of a return to the levels of sectarian
violence seen in 2006 and 2007, in which
thousands died.

This week alone, more than 60 people were killed
in attacks targeting main Shia areas of Baghdad on
Monday. A further 25 deaths were reported in
bombings in the city on Wednesday.
Estimates put the number of deaths in Iraq this
month at more than 450.