Bombers kill more than 30 in Iraq

The wave of morning bombings struck four Iraqi cities, the worst hit being Diwaniyah, 80 miles (130km) south of Baghdad, where an explosives-laden vegetable truck detonated in a crowded market, killing 25 people and leaving 40 injured.

Vegetable seller Salah Abbas, 41, described a scene of chaos after the explosion ripped through the crowd. “There were many charred bodies on the ground,” said Mr Abbas, who rushed to help wounded fellow merchants before ambulances arrived. He managed to push one to safety in a cart, but two other colleagues died at the market.

“People screaming and crying – some were coming in to get their relatives while others were running out. Then rumours spread of more car bombs, and people ran out of the market in panic,” he added.

The attacks came as hundreds of thousands of Shiite pilgrims head to the holy city of Karbala this week for religious ceremonies that are expected to peak on Friday. Shiite pilgrimages are a favourite target of Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaida, and attacks timed to strike during a similar march in Baghdad last month left 100 dead.

Diwaniyah is about 25 miles (40km) from Karbala, which was also hit by two bombs in cars parked outside a market in early morning strikes that killed five people and wounded 30.

Jubair al-Jabouri, chairman of the Qadisiyah provincial council, confirmed the death toll in Diwaniyah, a Shiite city and the provincial capital. He blamed al- Qaida for the attacks.

“Terrorism has no religion,” Mr al-Jabouri said. “The terrorists targeted the innocents today in Karbala and Diwaniyah.”

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, which come on the heels of a particularly bloody June when attacks focused almost exclusively on Shiite pilgrims, government officials and security forces.