Car bombs kill at least 31 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 20 people were killed by a series of car bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on Monday and 11 others were killed by attacks in the southern city of Basra, police and medics said.

Scores of people have been killed in attacks over the past week as tensions between minority Sunni Muslims and Shi'ites who now lead Iraq have reached their highest level since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011.

Eight car bombs in mainly Shi'ite districts of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killed at least 20 people on Monday, police and medics said.

Two car bombs hit Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite southern city 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad. The first struck the Hananiya neighborhood, near a busy market and restaurants, and the second was detonated inside a bus terminal in Saad Square, police and medics said. Eleven people were killed.

More than 700 people were killed in April by a U.N. count, the highest figure in almost five years. Relations are coming under more strain by the day from the increasingly sectarian conflict in neighboring Syria.

Minority Sunnis, embittered by Shi'ite dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in 2003, have also been staging street protests against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki since December.

(Reporting by Aref Mohammed; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/two-bombs-kill-11-iraqs-southern-city-basra-071936810.html

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