At least 56 killed in Baghdad bombings: officials

Two bombings targeted mourners in a Shiite area of the Iraqi capital on Saturday, killing at least 56 people and pushing the monthly death toll past 500, officials said.

The bombs exploded near a funeral tent in the Sadr City area of north Baghdad at about 5:30 pm (1430 GMT), also wounding at least 128 people.

Sources said one of the blasts came when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle, while the other was either a bomb left under a car or a car bomb.

Sunni militants including those linked to Al-Qaeda frequently target members of Iraq's Shiite majority, whom they consider apostates.

Iraq has seen a number of sectarian attacks this year, raising fears of a return to the all-out sectarian conflict that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed thousands of people.

The Sadr City blasts came a day after two bombs exploded in a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad, killing 18 people.

Violence in Iraq has surged this year to levels not seen since 2008.

With the latest attacks, more than 540 people have been killed this month and upwards of 4,300 since the beginning of the year, according to AFP figures based on security and medical sources.