Ramadan Bomb Strikes Baghdad

Baghdad has seen a wave of attacks against mostly Shia targets this year

A wave of bomb attacks has hit mainly Shia areas of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing at least 40 people, police and medical sources say

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The attackers struck during celebrations marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Bombs were detonated in at least seven different areas of the city, targeting cafes, markets and restaurants.
It is believed to be one of the deadliest Ramadans in years in Iraq, with more than 670 people killed.
Most of the violence in the past six months has involved Sunni Islamist militant groups targeting Shia Muslim districts.
More than 4,000 people have died in such attacks this year. A further 9,865 have been injured, with Baghdad province the worst hit.
Maliki vow The deadliest car bomb attack on Saturday struck in the evening near an outdoor market in the south-eastern suburb of Jisr Diyala, police said, killing seven people and injuring 20.
Correspondents say the areas struck in the capital were both Shia and Sunni districts.

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Recent Attacks

• 12 July Bomb at cafe in Kirkuk kills 38
• 13 July Bomb attacks near Sunni mosques in Baghdad kill 21
• 14 July At least 34 killed in bombings in several cities
• 19 July Twenty killed at a Sunni mosque in central Iraq
• 20 July Car bombs in Baghdad kill 30
• 6 August Bomb attacks in and around Baghdad kill at least 41
• 10 August Bombs in Baghdad kill at least 40

• Iraq's uncertain future amid wave of violence

Last week Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to continue operations against militants, saying: "We will not leave our children to these murderers and those standing behind them and supporting both inside and outside."

Many Sunnis accuse Mr Maliki's Shia-led government of marginalising them.
The tensions this year were fuelled in April when Iraqi security forces broke up an anti-government Sunni protest in the city of Hawija, killing and wounding dozens of protesters.
Then last month, hundreds of inmates escaped after gunmen stormed two jails near Baghdad - Abu Ghraib to the west of the capital and Taji to the north.
The spike in violence in Iraq has raised fears of a return to the levels of sectarian killing seen following the US invasion 10 years ago, and has led commentators to discuss once again the prospect of partition along community lines.
The Iraqi government has also faced widespread criticism over corruption and the provision of basic services.
The conflict in neighbouring Syria, itself increasingly taking the form of a Sunni-Shia sectarian conflict, is further straining community relations in Iraq