The first bombs were reported in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad At least 24 people have died after explosions in Shia areas of Baghdad, according to Iraq's Interior Ministry.
The ministry told the BBC that at least 66 people were wounded in the blasts, which occurred in the capital's Sadr City and Kadhimiya neighbourhoods.AFP news agency said one bomb was planted on a motorcycle and that there were at least three roadside devices.
The attacks come amid a rise in sectarian tensions after the last US combat troops withdrew in December.
Between 12 and 15 people had been killed when two car bombs exploded simultaneously in Kadhimiya at around 09:00 (06:00 GMT), unnamed officials told the AFP news agency. The Associated Press (AP) quoted police as saying 14 people died in the blasts.
Eight people had earlier been killed when a motorbike bomb was detonated in Sadr City near where labourers were gathering to look for work, AP reported.
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Recent attacks in Iraq
- 5 January - At least 24 die in blasts in two Shia areas of Baghdad
- 4 January - At least three die in bombings and grenade attacks in Baquba and Abu Ghraib, north of Baghdad
- 26 December - At least seven killed in suicide car bomb attack outside Iraq's interior ministry
- 22 December - 68 killed in multiple blasts in Baghdad
- 5 December - At least 30 killed in attacks targeting Shia pilgrims in central Iraq
- 27 October - 38 killed, 78 injured in twin bomb blasts in a Shia area of Baghdad
- 12 October - 28 killed by car bombs and roadside bombs around Baghdad
- 15 August - At least 60 killed in co-ordinated attacks in several Iraqi cities
It quoted anonymous hospital officials as saying that 30 minutes later a roadside bomb exploded near a tea shop, killing one. AFP quoted security officials as also saying nine people were killed and 35 wounded in the Sadr City attacks. Reuters put the toll at 10.
"There was a group of day labourers gathered, waiting to be hired for work. Someone brought his small motorcycle and parked it nearby. A few minutes later it blew up, killed some people, wounded others and burned some cars," a police officer told Reuters at the scene of the first attack.BBC correspondent Rafid Jabboori says the attacks occurred during Baghdad's rush hour and the Interior Ministry says they were targeted at civilian gatherings.
Our correspondent says Iraq is going through a severe political crisis and the situation in the country is tense.
Iraq's power-sharing government has been in crisis since an arrest warrant was issued for Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi on terror charges two weeks ago. He has denied the accusations against him.
The al-Iraqiyya group, the main Sunni bloc in parliament, is boycotting the assembly in protest. It accuses Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, of monopolising power.
Mr Hashemi is currently in Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, under the protection of the regional government, but Mr Maliki has demanded that they give him up.
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