Six bombs exploded within minutes near Shia mosques across Baghdad today, killing at least 26 people and wounding scores of others, police and witnesses said.
The blasts, which appeared to target Shia Muslims taking part in Friday prayers, was a reminder of the capability of militants in Iraq despite an overall drop in violence in the country over the last 18 months. At least 130 were wounded.
Shia religious gatherings in the past have been targets of Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda, which regards Shias as heretics.
In the worst attack, a car bomb struck people praying outside a crowded mosque in northern Baghdad's Shaab district, killing at least 21 people and wounding 35.
"I saw 15 martyrs," said one Iraqi at the mosque.
US and Iraqi officials expect militant attacks to increase in the run up to national elections expected in January, in which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is hoping to capitalise on security gains to present himself as a nationalist who brought stability to Iraq.
"I lay the blame for these blasts on the government and Baghdad security officials," said Raad Souar, a politician close to the movement of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"The reason for the high number of casualties is due to the weakness of security in Baghdad."
A spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry declined to comment on the blasts.
Reuters