Wave of attacks kills at least 57 in Iraq

Baghdad, May 21: A string of car bombs and shootings tore through Shiite and Sunni areas of Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and escalating fears of a return to widespread sectarian bloodletting.

The attacks, some of which hit market places and crowded bus stops during the busy morning hours, are the latest in a recent spike in violence in Iraq that has targeted both Sunni and Shiite civilians and pushed the death toll over the past week to more than 200 people.

The scenes have been reminiscent of the retaliatory attacks between the two groups that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006-2007.

Tensions have been worsening since Iraq's minority Sunnis began protesting what they say is mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government.

The mass demonstrations, which began in December, have largely been peaceful, but the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.

Iraq's Shiite majority, which was oppressed under Saddam Hussein, now controls the levers of power in the country.

Wishing to rebuild the nation rather than revert to open warfare, they have largely restrained their militias over the past five years or so as Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaida have targeted them with occasional large-scale attacks.

But the renewed violence in both Shiite and Sunni areas since late last month has fuelled concerns of a return to sectarian warfare.

The worst of today's violence took place in Baghdad, where nine car bombs ripped through open-air markets and other areas of Shiite neighbourhoods, killing at least 33 people and wounding nearly 130, police officials said.

The surge in bloodshed has exasperated Iraqis, who have lived for years with the fear and uncertainty bred of random violence.