30 dead, scores wounded in Baghdad bombings

At least 30 people were killed after a series of bombings hit Baghdad, security and medical officials said.

The blasts, which hit eight areas of Baghdad and a neighbouring Madain town on Sunday, also wounded at least 57 people.

The deadliest attack was a car bomb that exploded inside a mechanic's shop in the Bayaa area of south Baghdad, killing at least seven and wounding 14 others.

Four were killed in another car bomb in central Baghdad while in the eastern Ghadeer district another car bomb near a government tax office killed six people and wounded 22, authorities said.

Moreover, three people were killed and a further 13 were wounded in a car bomb in the Husseiniyah neighbourhood, a car bombing near a restaurant killed three people and wounded 13. Another can bomb in a Shia slum killed two while a market bomb in a Shia neighbourhood killed five more. Also, an off-duty army officer was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his car exploded as he was driving near his house in Madain town, just south of Baghdad, police said.

Violence in Iraq is at a six-year high with nearly 950 people killed during November alone amid rampant sectarian killings.

Unrest spiked after security forces stormed a Sunni Arab protest camp north of Baghdad in April, sparking clashes that killed dozens.

Members of Iraq's Sunni minority, who complain of discrimination at the hands of the Shia-led government, have held frequent large demonstrations during the past year. Despite the government's concessions, daily attacks have shown no signs of decreasing.

Violence has killed more than 6,250 people since the beginning of the year.