Day of violence leaves more than 40 dead in bomb blasts in Iraqi cities

The deadliest blasts were in the south where back-to-back explosions tore through tents housing Shiite pilgrims.

The attacks in Hillah began with a roadside bombing near tents set up for Shiites commemorating the 17th century death of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussein. That was quickly followed by a car bomb targeting emergency response teams.

The explosions, which occurred in a busy commercial area, killed at least 29 people and wounded as many as 90, a police officer said, making it the deadliest attack in the city this year.

Twisted and charred vehicles were left outside damaged stores as shopkeepers collected their strewn merchandise from the bloodstained pavement.

Just hours earlier, a parked car exploded near the shrine of Imam Hussein in the Shiite city of Karbala, killing six people and wounding 20.

Karbala is one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam and the place where Imam Hussein and his brother, Imam Abbas, are buried. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites flock to their golden-domed shrines every year.

Such religious ceremonies have often been targeted by Sunni insurgents seeking to foment sectarian violence and undermine the Shiite-led government.

A suicide bomber also drove his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the mainly Sunni city of Fallujah, west of the capital, killing three policemen and wounding 11 others.

And in the northern city of Mosul, a parked car bomb went off as a police patrol passed, killing two people and wounding two.

With several other attacks, the nationwide death toll was the highest since October 27 when 40 people were killed in a string of bombings and other attacks around the country.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombings.