Bombings targeting protesters and pilgrims outside of Baghdad killed 14 people on Tuesday, the latest in a surge of violence that has sparked fears of a revival of all-out sectarian conflict in Iraq.
The latest attacks came a day after 35 people were killed nationwide, most of them in a series of car bombs across Baghdad, as the country grapples with a prolonged political deadlock and months of protests from its Sunni Arab minority.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda frequently target Shiite Muslims both the protesters and the pilgrims were from Iraq's Shiite majority.
Tuesday’s deadliest attack struck the ethnically-mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu, in North Iraq, that Kurdistan wants to incorporate into its three-province autonomous region over Baghdad’s objections.