A string of car bombings and shootings across Iraq left more than 50 people dead Monday, authorities said, in what is the latest spate of violence in a country plagued with Sunni-Shiite tension, CNN reported.
Scores were wounded in cities that were regularly engulfed in violence during last decade's Iraq war. The violence in recent weeks has conjured fears that all-out sectarian violence is rearing its head again in Iraq.
"Those who are targeting mosques and other locations are the enemies of Sunnis and Shiite," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said this weekend. "They are plotting to ignite sectarian strife as they have tried before."
The ever-present tensions between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites have escalated, especially after an incident last month in Hawija, in northern Iraq, where Iraqi security forces raided a site used by Sunni protesters to demonstrate against the Shiite-led government.
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Sunnis, who represent a minority of Iraqis, have been politically marginalized since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Shiites, who make up a majority of Iraqis, now dominate the government.
Al-Maliki, who is Shiite, is concerned about the rise of Sunni tribes forming an army to defend themselves and is urging Sunni leaders to help tamp down tensions.
Sectarian violence erupts anew
"We are in the planning stages to make changes within the (military) leaderships and adjusting plans to take different tactics for confrontation," he said.
Police haven't pinpointed those responsible for assaults, but most victims in the latest round of strikes were Shiites.