Attacks across Iraq kill over 70

A bomb exploded early in the day in a fish market in the town of Taji. Police and hospital officials said that attacks killed four and wounded 15. Another bomb exploded outside the house of a local anti-Qaida Sunni militia leader in the town of Basmaiya,killing two and wounding four.

Saturday nights blasts went off after the iftar meal that breaks the daily fast in the month of Ramadan. Streets during the holy month are often filled with people out shopping and relaxing in cafes in the evenings,suggesting the attackers aimed to hit as many civilians as possible.

As the scale of the carnage became clearer early Sunday,police reported that a total of 12 car bombs went off in Baghdad late Saturday. They said the blasts and a shooting in the same area as one of the explosions killed 57,including some who died in the hospital overnight. More than 125 were reported wounded.

Those attacks and others around Iraq on Saturday killed a total of 71,according to police and hospital officials. That made for the countrys deadliest day since May 17,when a series of explosions in Sunni areas in and around Baghdad killed at least 76 people.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the latest attacks.