A WAVE OF at least 14 bombings ripped across Baghdad this morning, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months.

The apparently coordinated attacks struck days after the last American forces left the country and in the midst of a major government crisis between Shi’ite and Sunni politicians that has sent sectarian tensions soaring.

The bombings may be linked more to the US withdrawal than the political crisis, but all together, the developments heighten fears of a new round of Shi’ite-Sunni sectarian bloodshed like the one a few years back that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though the bombings bore all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda’s Sunni insurgents. Most appeared to hit Shi’ite neighbourhoods, although some Sunni areas were also targeted.

In all, 11 neighbourhoods were hit by either car bombs, roadside blasts or sticky bombs attached to cars. There was at least one suicide bombing and the blasts went off over several hours.

The deadliest attack was in the Karrada neighbourhood, where a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden vehicle blew himself up outside the office of a government agency fighting corruption.

Two police officers at the scene said the bomber was driving an ambulance and told guards that he needed to get to a nearby hospital. After the guards let him through, he drove to the building where he blew himself up, the officers said.

Sirens wailed as ambulances rushed to the scene and a large plume of smoke rose over the area. The blast left a crater about five yards wide in front of the five-story building, which was singed and blackened.

“I was sleeping in my bed when the explosion happened,” said 12-year-old Hussain Abbas, who was standing nearby in his pajamas.

I jumped from my bed and rushed to my mom’s lap. I told her I did not to go to school today. I’m terrified.

At least 25 people were killed and 62 injured in that attack, officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Figures gathered from Iraqi health and police officials across the city put the death toll at 60, and 160 injured. The spokesman for the Iraqi health ministry put the death toll at 57 and said at least 176 people were injured.

Conflicting casualty figures are common in the aftermath of such widespread bombings.

- Qassim Abdul-Zahra