16 Apr 2013

Pre-election bombs in Iraq

5:32 am on 16 April 2013

Up to 33 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in a series of explosions in cities across Iraq.

Most of the bombs were in the capital, Baghdad, but others were reported in Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk in the north and Nasariyah in the south.

The bombings occurred during the morning rush hour on Monday.

AFP reported the explosions were caused by 20 cars packed with explosives and three roadside bombs. Three of the car bombs went off minutes apart in Tuz Khurmatu.

Provincial elections are to be held on Saturday, the first since 2010.

The killings accompanied a long-running political crisis in the government that splits posts among Shi'ite, Sunni Muslim and ethnic Kurdish parties in an unwieldy, power-sharing coalition.