31 dead as car bombs rock Iraq

BAGHDAD: Attacks in Iraq killed 31 people Thursday as 11 car bombs struck nationwide the latest in a surge of violence that has sparked fears Iraq is slipping back into all out sectarian war.

The bloodshed in which more than 6 000 people have been killed this year is the worst prolonged stretch of unrest since 2008 and comes just months before a general election forcing Baghdad to appeal for international help in battling militants.

Although there have been no claims of responsibility for much of the unrest officials see the hand of a resurgent Al Qaeda emboldened by the civil war raging in neighbouring Syria.