Iraq attacks and bombings

Bombs and attacks across Iraq on Monday evening have left more than 30 people dead and many more injured, officials said.

Eight of the 10 blasts in Baghdad were in mainly Shiite districts, but there was also an explosion in a diverse area and another in the predominantly Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Doura. Police reported casualties from explosions in eight different neighborhoods. In the worst attack, a parked car blew up in a commercial street in Husseiniya, killing five people.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.

Separately, four members of a government-backed Sunni militia were killed in a roadside bombing in northern Baghdad earlier on Monday. Six people including a police officer died in fighting between militants and special forces in Hilla, 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the capital.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that "what Iraq is being exposed to is a big conspiracy that aims to create strife and sectarianism among the sons of one society."

The bombings came a day after two explosions in the capital, including a suicide attack against Shiite pilgrims, killed 14 people.

A guard also prevented a woman trying to plant a bomb near a primary school in Madain south of Baghdad on Monday. She was turned over to the army, according to the interior ministry.

jm/kms (Reuters, AP, AFP)