Wave of central Iraq car bombs kills at least 33

BAGHDAD, Feb 18 (AFP): Ten car bombs in central Iraq, including five in Baghdad, killed at least 33 people Tuesday, officials said, after another series of blasts the day before.

Iraqi authorities have so far failed to curb a year-long surge in violence plaguing the country, despite carrying out wide-ranging operations against militants.

The blasts in the Iraqi capital hit four different areas, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 30.

And three more car bombs exploded in Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 22, while one in Mussayib and another in Iskandiriyah killed a total of four people and wounded 32.

The attacks followed four car bombs in Baghdad on Monday that killed at least 16 people.

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when it was emerging from a brutal period of sectarian killings that claimed tens of thousands of lives.

And all of one major city and parts of another in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, have been held by anti-government fighters for weeks.