Iraq: Dozens killed in multiple bombings in Shia neighborhoods
A picture taken on December 5, 2013 shows damages and a burnt vehicle after the mall in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk was stormed by security forces to end an hours-long siege that has followed an attack involving a car bomb, gunmen and would-be suicide bombers.
Dozens of people are dead in Iraq after almost a dozen explosions and attacks were carried out in or near Baghdad on Sunday.
The death toll has reached at least 39 with scores wounded in attacks on markets, commercial areas and a car repair shop in Shia neighborhoods.
There has been no claim of responsibility but a wave of attacks this year by Sunni insurgents has claimed thousands of lives.
The attacks are aimed at destabilizing the Shia-led government and stirring sectarian tensions.
More from GlobalPost: Q&A: What's behind the spike of violence in Iraq?
It is believed that insurgents hope to cause a reaction by the government, which would provoke more violence.
A government-led assault on a Sunni protest camp in April is said to have triggered much of the recent terrorism that has nearly tipped the country back into civil war.
The deadliest attack occurred in the Shia area of Baiya. A car bomb was detonated inside an auto repair shop killing seven people.
Another bomb in downtown Baghdad killed four.
Iraqi police raided an alleged insurgent base in Mosul, arresting five on Sunday.