A wave of car bombs in mostly Shi'ite districts of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, has left more 60 people dead.
There were a dozen blasts in total, with the deadliest claiming 23 lives, many of them young people playing billiards.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks but the Shi'ite community is a target for Sunni Islamist insurgents who have been regaining ground and momentum in Iraq during the past year.
In the past three days, militants have overrun parts of two cities.
Meanwhile, militants who stormed a university campus in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi have released hundreds of students and staff they had taken hostage.
Security sources in Ramadi say many of the militants were killed by the security forces and the remainder have withdrawn.
The attack is the third major operation by extremists in as many days.
