Attacks rock Baghdad, leave dozens dead and injured

An Iraqi policeman stands guard at the site of a blast as people inspect damages in Baghdad on May 31, 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Casualties in a car bomb attack in a Shiite area rise to 11 dead and 36 injured


• It is unclear who committed the attacks and whether they are linked


• The attacks occur in several Baghdad neighborhoods


• Spate of violence comes after scores were killed during attacks in April

Baghdad (CNN) -- A series of explosions in a three-hour period shook several areas in Baghdad on Thursday morning, leaving at least 14 people dead and dozens injured, Iraqi police said.

It was unclear who committed the attacks and whether they were linked.

One of the explosions occurred in Sulaa, a Shiite neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad. A parked car bomb exploded outside a gas station in a busy area, killing at least 11 people and wounding 36 others, police said. Initial reports gave a lower number of casualties.

In a Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, bombs planted near two homes left two people dead and seven others wounded.

In another Sunni neighborhood, four people were wounded after a roadside bomb exploded on a busy road.

Four police officers were also wounded after a roadside bomb exploded in a Sunni district in the southern part of the capital, police said.

Also in western Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near the home of an adviser of Iraq's Council of Ministers, police said. The government official and his family was not home during the attack, but a bystander was killed and four others were wounded.

Thursday's spate of violence comes after scores were killed during attacks last month. According to the Interior Ministry, 126 people were killed in violence and 271 were wounded in April.

Source & Image : CNN World