The aftermath of a car bomb, which exploded here in the Kamaliya district of Baghdad on Tuesday, leaving damaged car parts and shards from nearby shops littering the ground.

The attack was one in a series of deadly bomb attacks that rocked the country, killing nearly 50 people, many of them in busy markets and commercial areas of the capital.

Both Sunni and Shi'te districts were apparent targets of the attacks.

The deadliest assault happened in the predominantly Shi'ite Shaab neighbourhood of northern Baghdad, where two car bombs killed eight people.

Outside the city, a blast near a funeral tent in the city of Baquba killed six.

Meanwhile, further south in the city of Basra, residents cleaned up after three blasts hit a hotel frequented by foreigners working in the oil industry. Three guards were wounded.

Another car bomb in Amara saw four people killed.

Violence in Iraq is still well below its 2006-07 peak, but Sunni insurgents are striking on