At least 12 people were killed Thursday in three back-to-back bombings in the Iraqi city of Basra, security sources said, dpa reported.
More than 40 people were injured in the blasts that occurred in a marketplace in the city, located around 550 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, they added.
The casualties included policemen who rushed to the scene following the first two bombings only to be hit by the third, witnesses told dpa.
Violence in Iraq had steadily dropped after Sunni-Shiite bloodshed peaked in 2006. But in recent months, bombings have again become an almost daily event, targeting mainly security and military personnel.