Bombs kill 40 as Iraq mired in political crisis

Baghdad, Dec 22: Wave of attacks in Baghdad today (Dec 22) killed 40 people as Iraq faced a political crisis, with its vice president accused of running death squads and the premier warning he could break off power-sharing.

The apparently coordinated blasts, which left nearly 150 people wounded, were the first major sign of violence in a crisis that has threatened the country's fragile political truce and heightened sectarian tensions just days after US forces completed their withdrawal from Iraq.

The attacks, the deadliest in more than four months, largely coincided with the morning rush hour, and security forces cordoned off bomb sites, AFP correspondents and officials said.

Iraqi helicopters could be heard hovering overhead at many of the blast sites and emergency response vehicles rushed to the scene of attacks, while tightened security at checkpoints worsened Baghdad's already choking traffic.

The attacks came in the Allawi, Bab al-Muatham and Karrada districts of central Baghdad, the Adhamiyah, Shuala and Shaab neighbourhoods in the north, Jadriyah in the east, Ghazaliyah in the west and Al-Amil and Dura in the south, the officials said.

Health ministry spokesman Ziad Tariq put the toll at 40 dead and 149 wounded in 10 attacks. An interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been 11 attacks.

The violence was the worst since August 15, when 74 people were killed and more than 200 people wounded in a series of attacks that struck 17 Iraqi cities.

PTI