Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013. A new wave of insurgent attacks, mostly car bombs targeting Shiite-dominated cities in central and southern Iraq, killed and wounded scores of people, officials said.BAGHDAD – A wave of car bombings and other attacks in Iraq killed at least 58 people in mostly Shiite-majority cities on Sunday, another bloody reminder of the government’s failure to stem the surge of violence that is feeding sectarian tensions.
Iraq is experiencing its deadliest bout of violence since 2008, raising fears the country is returning to a period of widespread killing such as that which pushed it to the brink of civil war following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. More than 4,000 people have been killed in attacks since the start of April, including 804 just in August, according to United Nations figures.
Sunday’s deadliest attack was in the city of Hillah, 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad, where a car bomb near an outdoor market killed nine civilians and wounded 15 others, a police officer said. A few minutes later, another car bomb went off nearby, killing six civilians and wounding 14, he added.
In the nearby town of Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital, another car bomb hit a parking lot, killing four civilians and wounding nine, police said.
Another car bomb went off in an industrial area of the Shiite city of Karbala, killing five and wounding 25, a police officer said. Karbala is 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad. In the aftermath, security officials inspected burnt-out cars in front of what appeared to be a smashed row of workshops.