BAGHDAD: Bombings inIraq, including a series of blasts mainly targeting Shia areas ofBaghdad, killed at least 25 people and wounded 68 on Wednesday, security and medical officials said.

Car bombs hit Kadhimiyah andSadrCityin northBaghdad, Saidiyah in the south and Mashtal and Baghdad Jadida in the east, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 45, while a roadside bomb in the Zafraniyah area killed two police, officials said. AFP journalists heard the sound of explosions in centralBaghdad, and saw a number of ambulances on the street. A car bomb inKirkukwas the deadliest single attack on Wednesday, killing eight people and wounding another eight. It was followed by a roadside explosion targeting theKirkukpolice chief’s convoy and by a car bomb nearby, killing two people and wounding nine between them.

In Tarmiyah, north ofBaghdad, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle attacked a police checkpoint, killing one policeman and wounding four people. Attacks in the northern city ofMosulkilled two policeman and wounded two more.

The Wednesday violence came a day after attacks killed 16 people in Iraq, including 12 shot dead when gunmen attacked a row of alcohol shops in Baghdad. Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, killing more than 200 people in each of the first four months of this year.