Iraq suicide blasts kill scores in Kirkuk, Baghdad
An Iraqi security officer inspects the site of an explosion on January 16 in Kirkuk, 150 miles north of Baghdad. A wave of attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital left at least 17 people dead a day after a Sunni MP was killed in a suicide bombing, amid a worsening political crisis engulfing Iraq.
A wave of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq have killed dozens and injured hundreds on Wednesday.
The attacks in Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 42 people and injured nearly 250 others.
BBC reported that the attack comes amid political turmoil in the country with many Sunnis and Kurdish factions calling on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to step down.
The attack in the ethnically-mixed Kirkuk saw two car bombs detonated near local offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The second bomb targeted another KDP official.
“Both explosions inflicted massive destruction,” said police Brigadier General Sarhad Qader, according to BBC.
“Our forces are still trying to remove corpses from the rubble."
Several security forces' members were also killed in the blasts.
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Another suicide car bombing occurred in a small town just north of Baghdad killing five and wounding 40 others on Wednesday.
The attack appeared to be aimed at the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, reported Reuters.
Separate attacks in Baghdad killed six people while bombings in other parts of the country killed another five people.
The violence appears to be linked to disputes regarding territory in northern Iraq that Kurds are looking to make a part of their autonomous region.
They are also likely linked with Sunni anger against the Prime Minister for alleged misuse of anti-terror laws in detaining members of the Sunni community, reported Al Jazeera.
AFP said Wednesday's death toll was the highest in Iraq since December 17.