Iraq: Bomb attacks kill 21, wound over 100

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombings in and around Baghdad killed at least 21 people and wounded over 100 on Thursday, health and security sources said, the latest attacks in a bloody month that have stoked fears Iraq could return to broad sectarian fighting.

Tensions have been high in the country since the last U.S. troops left in December, with ongoing political crises between Iraq's main Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions further aggravating concerns.

In the deadliest incident, at least eight people were killed and 30 wounded when a bomb in a parked taxi exploded at the entrance of a Baghdad market in the mainly Shi'ite Muslim district of Washash, police said.

"There were bodies scattered everywhere. Glass and vegetables covered the whole place," said police officer Ahmed Nouri, who was on patrol nearby when the bomb detonated.

"I feel like my clothes are completely covered in blood and the smell of it is in my nose," he said.

Most of the victims were vendors setting up their produce in the early hours before shoppers arrived, he said.

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