Multiple car bombings rock Baghdad

Series of bombs targeting restaurants in the Iraqi capital kills 18, police and medical sources say.

The bombings are the latest in a series targeting members of Iraq's Shia majority [Reuters]

Three car bombs have exploded in a Shia area of the capital, Baghdad, killing at least 18 people and wounding 50 others, Iraqi security and medical officials have said.

Two blasts hit the car park of a large restaurant in the Talbiyah area of the capital, while a third exploded near a police patrol on Tuesday.

The blasts smashed the front of the restaurant, ripping through an outdoor seating area and leaving behind pools of blood on the ground.

One of the weeping relatives of the victims at the scene blamed the government and politicians, shouting: “Where is the government, where is the transparency and democracy?”

“They are killing civilians in cold blood and we are still talking about democracy — we elected them, but today we regret it.”

The attacks were the latest in a series of bombings targeting members of Iraq’s Shia majority in the capital that have left more than 50 dead in three days.

There was no immediate claim for the bombings.

Suicide bombers struck Shia mosques in Baghdad on Sunday and Monday, killing at least 33 people in total.

The latest attack comes as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has overrun large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

Source: AFP