Wave of bombings kills 65 in Baghdad province

BAGHDAD: A wave of bombings killed 65 people in Baghdad province on Saturday night, officials said, as Iraq struggles to contain its worst violence since 2008, in which over 520 have died this month.

Twelve car bombs and a roadside bomb hit the city of Baghdad, while another bomb exploded in Madain to the south of the capital, a police colonel and a medical official said.

The blasts also wounded 190 people.

The bombs struck as Baghdad residents turned out to shop and relax in cafes after iftar.

In the deadliest incidents, two car bombs killed 12 people in the Karrada, while two car bombs and a roadside bomb hit Zafraniyah, both areas in central Baghdad.

Violence also struck north Iraq.

A roadside bomb against a patrol killed a policeman and wounded another in the city of Mosul, while a car bomb southeast of the city killed a woman and wounded 22 people, including seven police, and a bomb to its west wounded three people.

Saturday was the deadliest day of violence in Iraq since June 10, when attacks killed 78 people.

The Saturday bombings came a day after a suicide bomber killed 20 people inside a crowded mosque north of the capital. (AFP)