Iraq deadly bombings hit Nasariyah, Kirkuk and Baghdad
Middle EastAt least 20 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in a series of early morning explosions in cities across Iraq, officials say.
Attacks were reported in Baghdad, as well as Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk in the north and Nasariyah in the south.
The co-ordinated attacks occurred during the morning rush hour and mainly involved car bombs.
The violence comes ahead of Iraq's provincial elections on 20 April, the first in the country since 2010.
Elsewhere, gunmen armed with pistols fitted with silencers shot and killed a police officer while he was driving his car in the town of Tarmiyah, 30 miles (50 km) north of Baghdad, AP said.
No group has admitted carrying out Monday's attacks.
But they come at a time when tensions are high between Iraq's Sunni and Shia, amid claims by the majority Sunni Muslim communities that they are being marginalised by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's Shia-led government.
Sunni Islamist militants linked to al-Qaeda have attempted to destabilise the government by stepping up attacks, mainly on Shia but also Sunni targets this year.