As violence deepens in Iraq, tribal leaders are warning of war unless the country splits into a federation amid a new wave of apparently sectarian violence.
At least 77 people died and about 200 others injured in Monday’s car bombings across Iraqi cities, police and medics say, pushing the death toll over the past week to more than 200.
The worst attack occurred in Baghdad, where 10 car bombs struck open-air markets and other areas of Shia neighbourhoods, killing at least 47 people and wounding more than 150, police officials said.
In the bloodiest incident, a parked car bomb blew up in a busy market in the northern Shia neighbourhood of Shaab, killing 14 and wounding 24, police and health officials said.
The predominantly Shia city of Basra in southern Iraq was also hit on Monday, with two car bombs there – one outside a restaurant and another at the city’s main bus station – killing at least 13 and wounded 40, according to the provincial police spokesperson.
In the town of Balad, about 80km north of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded next to a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims, killing six Iranians and one Iraq and wounding nine people, a police officer said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but the fact that they all occurred in Shia areas raised the suspicion that Sunni fighters were involved.
The latest attacks have heightened fears that the country could be heading towards civil war.
