Three car bombs tore through Baghdad and the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah on Sunday, killing at least 36 people and breaking what had been a period of relative calm since the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The violence was the worst to strike Iraq since the number of American troops in the country dropped below 50,000 and the U.S. declared a formal end to combat operations. It also underlines the challenges Iraqi security forces face trying to stabilise Baghdad as the U.S. trims its military presence and Iraq's police and military assume responsibility for security.
The deadliest attack Sunday took place in north Baghdad's Kazimiyah neighbourhood when a car bomb detonated near a branch office of the National Security Ministry in Adan square, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 70, police and hospital officials said.
At least 10 people were killed in another car bombing in western Baghdad's affluent Mansour neighbourhood, said Army Brigadier General Ali Fadhal, who is responsible for the western half of the city. Another 10 people were wounded in the attack.
Fadhal said security officials were investigating whether the blast was the work of a suicide attacker in a car targeting a crowded commercial area near an AsiaCell store, one of Iraq's biggest mobile phone providers.
The blast sheered off large sections of the concrete walls from the surrounding buildings, and chunks of rubble were strewn around the street. Dozens of Iraqi army and police officers cordoned off the area, keeping journalists at bay. In Fallujah, a suicide attacker in a car struck an Iraqi army patrol in the city's busy commercial district.
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