42 die in series of attacks across Iraq

BAGHDAD: A series of attacks in Baghdad and north Iraq killed 42 people on Sunday amid a surge in violence that authorities have failed to stem despite wide-ranging operations targeting militants.
Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has vowed to press on with his anti-insurgency campaign, which has reportedly led to the arrest of hundreds of alleged militants and the killing of dozens.
But analysts and diplomats say authorities have failed to tackle the root causes of Iraq’s worst violence since 2008: Anger in the Sunni Arab community over perceived ill treatment by the Shiite-led authorities and security forces.
Sunday’s violence struck the Baghdad area and in predominantly Sunni Arab towns and cities to the north, but the deadliest of the attacks hit the capital.
A series of bombings — two car bombs and a roadside bomb — went off between 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. in Baghdad and its outskirts, killing nine people and wounding 22 others, officials said.
The blasts struck a variety of neighborhoods across the city, and were the latest in a burgeoning trend of militant attacks in the afternoon and evening in Baghdad.
In previous years, deadly attacks have typically struck during the morning rush-hour when much of the capital is in gridlock.
Attacks on Sunday also hit Salaheddin, Nineveh and Diyala provinces to the north of Baghdad, security and medical officials said.
The deadliest of those struck in Baquba, where four bombings in the Diyala provincial capital, including two targeting a Shiite wedding and the home of a newly-returned displaced family, killed nine people and wounded 47 others.
Elsewhere, a car bomb near the town of Balad killed five people and wounded 21 others, among them a senior judge who was the apparent target of the blast.
In restive Nineveh province, gunmen opened fire on a van ferrying soldiers from Baghdad to their unit in the provincial capital Mosul, killing five of them.
Also in Nineveh, three separate attacks by gunmen left a soldier and two civilians dead, including a member of the Shabak minority.
The 30,000-strong Shabak community mostly lives near Iraq’s border with Turkey.
They speak a distinct language and largely follow a faith that is a blend of Shiite Islam and local beliefs. Shabaks are frequently targeted in attacks by militants.
Violence has markedly increased in Iraq this year.
Attacks have killed more than 3,600 people since the beginning of 2013, according to figures compiled by AFP.
The surge in violence has raised concerns that Iraq is teetering on the brink of a return to the all-out sectarian war in 2006-2008 that left tens of thousands dead.