Nine bombings mainly targeting Shia-majority areas of Baghdad killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more on Wednesday, officials said, as Iraq suffers its worst violence in years. The country has been hit by a year-long surge in bloodshed that has reached levels not seen since 2008, driven by widespread discontent among its Sunni Arab minority and by the bloody civil war in neighbouring Syria.
Baghdad is one of the most frequently targeted cities and is hit by near-daily bombings and shootings.
The seven car bombs and two roadside bombs, which struck in six different areas of Baghdad, also wounded more than 70 people, the officials said.
One car bomb exploded near the University of Technology in the Karrada district of central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding at least 10.
"The terrorist was planning to blow up the car on the main road near the university," but instead left it on a side street as security forces do not allow cars to stop there, a police officer at the scene said.
An AFP journalist saw the charred remains of the car bomb, and said two cars and several nearby homes were damaged by the blast.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, Sunni jihadists often target members of Iraq's Shia Muslim majority, whom they consider to be apostates.
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