Iraq attacks, including a market bombing and the assassination of a former MP, killed 34 people Monday as France offered to help combat a surge in bloodshed ahead of elections. The protracted rise in violence, which has seen at least 500 people killed already this month, has fuelled fears Iraq is on the brink of plunging back into the brutal Sunni-Shia sectarian war that plagued it years ago.
Officials have also voiced concern over a resurgent al Qaeda emboldened by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, which has provided jihadist fighters in Iraq with rear bases to plan operations.
Monday's attacks struck the capital and predominantly Sunni Arab areas north of Baghdad that have borne the brunt of the worsening unrest, which has killed more than 5,900 people this year.
The deadliest was at a local market in the Sadriyah neighbourhood of central Baghdad, where an evening bombing killed at least 15 people and wounded 36 others as Iraqis gathered at restaurants and cafes and to shop.
Elsewhere in the capital, a car bomb targeting a police station killed four policemen, while another bombing, this one targeting Sahwa anti-al Qaeda militiamen, killed one fighter and wounded four.
Also on Monday, three people, including a justice ministry employee, were killed in separate attacks in Baghdad.