Iraq hit by fresh wave of attacks

The aftermath of the attacks in the Karrada and Shaab districts Bomb attacks in the capital Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq have killed at least 29 people and wounded 75, police say. In the latest attack, a roadside bomb killed four people in a marketplace in Baghdad's Husseiniya district. Other victims included three students on their way to sit exams and a child of four. More than 70 people died in a truck bombing in Kirkuk on Saturday. The attacks come days before US troops are scheduled to pull out of Iraq's towns and cities. With so many attacks in such a short space of time, it appears insurgents are determined to make things look as unstable as possible as the pull-out deadline approaches, the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki urged Iraqis on Saturday: "Don't lose heart if a breach of security occurs here or there." He said the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq's towns and cities by the end of this month would be a "great victory". Ending operations Police reported at least half a dozen bomb explosions in different parts of Baghdad and outlying areas with the number of people killed in each ranging between two and seven, with many others injured. Monday's deadliest attack was caused by a suicide car bomb at municipal offices in Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad. Seven people died and 13 were wounded, police said. A roadside bomb tore through a minibus carrying students to sit their exams in Baghdad's Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City. Three students died and 12 others as well as the driver were wounded in the rush-hour attack. Another roadside bomb killed three people and wounded 30 near a market in the Shaab district of north Baghdad. A woman and a four-year-old child were among the dead, the AFP news agency reports. Five people were killed and 20 wounded by a parked car bomb in central Baghdad's Karrada district. Gunmen killed at least four people in separate attacks in the northern city of Mosul. Three soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala province, north-east of Iraq. Most of the 133,000 US troops are due to have moved from Iraq's cities and towns to military bases by 30 June. The withdrawal is part of an agreement that will see combat operations across Iraq end by September 2010 and all US troops out of the country by the end of 2011.