Baghdad explosions leave 76 dead

Thirteen blasts ripping through Baghdad's Shia neighbourhoods on Tuesday killed at least 76 people, Iraqi hospital and police officials say.

Bombs or mortar shells exploded in eightneighbourhoods across the cityTuesday evening.

Officials saidat least 232people were injuredin the attacks, which involved a combination of car bombs, roadside bombs and mortars.

The deadliest bomb was in a carparked near a popular market in the Sadr City slum in eastern Baghdad, home toabouttwo million Shias. That attack killed 21 people and wounded 46.

Most of the blasts took place in Shia neighbourhoods, but some Sunni areas were targeted as well.

The blasts come just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that left 58 people dead.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.