Death toll in southern Iraq bombing rises to 40

A bomb in a small truck killed 40 people and wounded 75 others in a market in the Iraqi city of Diwaniya on Tuesday, police sources said.
  
The attack in Diwaniya, 150 km (93 miles) south of Baghdad was near a mosque where pilgrims were gathering for a Shi'ite celebration. Police had said earlier that 25 people had been killed.

Earlier in the day, two roadside bombs targeting Shi'ite pilgrims killed four people and wounded 21 near the central Iraqi city of Kerbala, hospital and police sources said.

Increased attacks in Iraq in recent weeks have raised fears that the country could slip back into widespread sectarian violence.  

Last month at least 237 people were killed and 603 wounded mainly in bomb attacks, according to a Reuters tally, making June one of the bloodiest months in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew at the end of last year.   

The worst attack occurred on June 13 when bombers targeting Shi'ite pilgrims killed more than 70 people.   

Sunni insurgents often attack Shi'ite targets to try to reignite the sectarian violence that killed tens of thousands of people in 2006-2007. Iraq's al Qaeda wing has claimed some of the recent bombings against Shi'ites.   

The government's Sunni, Shi'ite and ethnic Kurdish parties have also been locked in political battles that threaten to shatter their delicate power-sharing agreement.

REUTERS