Car bombs target Iraqi capital as violence continues

Ten car bombs in central Iraq, including five in Baghdad, killed at least 19 people Tuesday, officials said, after another series of blasts the day before.

Iraqi authorities have so far failed to curb a year-long surge in violence plaguing the country, despite carrying out wide-ranging operations against militants.

The blasts in the Iraqi capital hit four different areas, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 30.

And three more car bombs exploded in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 22, while one in Mussayib and another in Iskandiriyah killed a total of four people and wounded 32.

The blasts followed four car bomb attacks in Baghdad on Monday that killed at least 16 people.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when it was emerging from a brutal period of sectarian killings that claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Attacks and clashes have killed more than 470 people so far this month and over 1,450 since the start of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.