Iraq bloodshed leaves 59 dead

More than a dozen bombs went off in and around Baghdad, the bloodiest in a wave of attacks Wednesday that killed 59 people across Iraq amid spiralling violence.

The worst of the bloodshed struck the capital and surrounding areas in the form of a spate of apparently coordinated car bombs and suicide attacks targeting morning rush hour.

Residents in one neighbourhood angrily reacted to one blast by chasing down a suspected attacker and killing him before setting his corpse ablaze.

The unrest came despite widely publicised security operations targeting militants in Baghdad and to the north and west, though the government has faced criticism it is not dealing with the root causes of Iraq's worst violence since 2008.

The spike in violence since the beginning of the year, with more than 3,700 people killed in 2013, has sparked concerns the country is teetering on the edge of a return to the brutal all-out sectarian war that plagued it in 2006 and 2007.

Overall, violence in Baghdad and towns just south of the capital left 57 dead, while two others were killed in attacks in the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. More than 190 people were wounded nationwide.