Wave of violence in Iraq, more than 300 casualties

A series of car bombs, suicide bombings and clashes on June 10 in Sunni Muslim areas of Iraq killed at least 70 people and injured more than 230.

In Mosul alone, 400km from the capital Baghdad and home to a Sunni majority, at least 29 people were killed and more than 80 injured in five car bomb attacks and bloody clashes between security forces and militants.

The scene of the bomb explosion in Baghdad. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Violence also continued in several other Iraqi cities, with four people killed and 26 wounded in a car bomb attack in Tuz Khurmatu, while a bomb attack targeting security forces in Kirkuk killed three soldiers and wounded 12.

In Taji, 20km from Baghdad, a bomb exploded at a fish market, killing seven people and wounding 16.

Earlier, three bomb attacks occurred at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Jedidat town, on the outskirts of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, 65km northeast of Baghdad, killing 13 people and injuring 39 others.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Iraqi officials have blamed Sunni Muslim militants linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network for the deadly attacks since April that have left more than 2,000 dead.

Violence has flared in Iraq since political tensions arose between the ruling Shiite community and Sunnis who say they have been discriminated against and isolated since the fall of President Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The recent surge in violence has raised concerns about the possibility of a full-blown sectarian conflict that devastated Iraq like in 2006 and 2007.

Meanwhile, the protracted war in Syria, between the Shiite government army supported by Iran and the Sunni-backed rebels in the Gulf Arab countries, also puts pressure on Iraq's security in balancing the relationship between the three communities of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, which have many deep disagreements in this country./.

According to (TTXVN) - DT