Bombs tear through Iraq

Multiple attacks tear through Iraq, shattering a two-week lull in violence.

A string of bombings across the country have killed nearly 100 people in the last two days.

On Monday, twin car bombs exploded in rapid succession and a suicide bomber blew himself up in Taji, a town 20 km north of Baghdad, just before sunrise.

In all at least 32 people were killed, including 14 police officers, with dozens wounded.

Authorities said the suicide bomber targeted emergency workers helping those wounded in the earlier car bombs.

Two other car bombs also struck near a government building in Sadr City, a poor Shi'ite neighbourhood in Baghdad, and in the northern mainly Shi'ite area of Hussainiya, killing in total 16 people and wounding 73.

Another blast in the town of Diwaniya killed at least four people near a large market.

There were multiple bomb blasts in the northern city of Kirkuk as well.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest wave of attacks but a senior Iraqi security official blamed the local wing of al Qaeda for the upsurge in violence.

Sarah Sheffer, Reuters