Bombing in Iraqi

A wave of bombings in six Iraqi provinces, including 10 locations in Baghdad, has killed 62 people and wounded dozens more, Iraqi police say.

Many of the dead in the Iraqi capital were Shia pilgrims gathering for a religious festival.

In Hilla, two car bombs exploded near a restaurant, killing at least 19 people. There has been a wave of attacks on the Shia community in recent days, as it marks the anniversary of the death of Shia imam Moussa al-Kadhim. A man who witnessed one of the attacks in Baghdad said a car bomb had targeted pilgrims and had also hit people who were working in the city.

"People were slaughtered and killed right here. This wrecked car here belonged to a man who worked to earn his living, and another one belonged to a fuel seller. They could not find his body."

The restaurant that came under attack in Hilla is said to be frequented by police.

Three bombs exploded in Kirkuk, with one of them targeting the headquarters of Kurdish president Massoud Barzani. One person died and many were injured in that attack. One man told Reuters: "I want to ask the government, why do they put party headquarters in residential areas and among the civilians? Bombs are still occurring , killing and hurting innocent people."

There are also reports of bombs in Al-Azizyah, south of Baghdad, in Mosul, and another north of Kerbala. It is not yet clear who is responsible for Wednesday's attacks.

Four people were killed in a mortar attack near a religious shrine in Baghdad on Sunday.

Iraq's interior ministry said following that attack that there would be heightened security across the city as they anticipated further violence. Violence in Iraq has fallen since the sectarian killings of a few years ago, but militants still frequently attack security forces and civilians.

BBC world affairs correspondent Emily Buchanan says sectarian tensions have been simmering since the US withdrawal in December last year, and this kind of violence is exactly what they had feared. Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has been trying to consolidate Shia power at the expense of Sunni and Kurdish voices, she says.

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