Baghdad bombings claim 23 lives, injure 60

A string of bomb attacks in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 60 others, officials say.

At least 19 people were killed and over 30 wounded on Thursday when twin car bombs exploded near a football field in Baghdad’s northwestern neighborhood of Shula.

The second blast came after security forces arrived on the scene of the first explosion.

In the southern district of Mahmudiyah, a militant detonated a hand grenade when people attempted to arrest him, and five bombs exploded nearby, killing at least two people and wounding at least seven.

Two roadside bombs also rocked the Shurta al-Rabea area in southern Baghdad, killing one person and wounding seven, while a car bomb in the southeastern neighborhood of Aziziyah killed one person and wounded 17.

No one has taken responsibility for the Thursday attacks.

Militants have increased their efforts to destabilize Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government in recent months by sparking inter-communal violence.

Sectarian violence in Iraq has fallen since reaching a high in 2007, but bombings targeting Shia areas are still common. – See more at: http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/02/28/291295/baghdad-bombings-claim-23-lives/#sthash.MbPnSKzy.dpuf