9 Sep 2012

Wave of deadly attacks in Iraq

11:06 pm on 9 September 2012

The death toll from a wave of attacks across Iraq has risen sharply, following two more car bombings near the city of Amara.

Nearly 60 people are now reported to have died in the day of bombings.

About a dozen separate attacks are thought to have been carried out.

The security forces appear to have been the main target, with 11 soldiers killed in a shooting and bombing at an army base north of Baghdad. Seven soldiers were injured.

Another bomb killed seven police recruits near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the BBC reports.

Sunni insurgents linked to al-Qaeda have have been blamed for much of the recent violence in Iraq.