At least 80 people are dead in and around Baghdad as bombers attacked the Iraqi capital on the first anniversary of a shrine explosion that set off waves of sectarian violence in the country.
Car bombs rocked a busy marketplace Monday, killing at least 71, while another blast was responsible for at least another nine deaths.
According to the Muslim lunar calendar it was a year ago that the Shiite Golden Dome shrine in Samarra, north of the capital, was destroyed. The attack, attributed to "al-Qaida in Iraq", gave way to revenge killings and plunged the country into civil turmoil.
Another 165 people were wounded in the latest blasts, which occurred in a largely Shiite area struck by several bombings since the start of 2007.
Two parked car bombs went off within moments of each other after the government signaled a 15-minute remembrance for the Samarra bombing.
About half an hour before that explosives concealed in a bag exploded near a popular falafel restaurant in Bab al-Sharqi. At least 19 people were wounded in addition to the nine people killed in that attack.
The United Nations reported that 34,452 civilians were killed in Iraq last year, mainly due to the rise in sectarian violence.
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