11 car bombs have been detonated in Shiite areas around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, killing at least 48 people.

780 people have now died since the start of July and at least 3,000 have now been killed since the start of 2013.

Today's bloodshed comes a day after attacks killed 14 people, among them nine Kurdish police who died in a suicide bombing in the northern town of Tuz Khurmatu.

Prison break

And on the night of July 21, militants launched brazen assaults on Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons, sparking clashes that lasted for some 10 hours.

At least 500 prisoners, including senior Al-Qaeda members, escaped during the unrest, while at least 20 security forces members and 21 inmates were killed.

Iraq has faced years of attacks by militants, but analysts say widespread discontent among members of its Sunni Arab minority that the government has failed to address has fuelled the surge this year.

Sectarian conflict deepening

Iraq's Sunni Arabs accuse the Shiite-led government of marginalising and targeting their community, including through unwarranted arrests and terrorism charges.

Protests broke out in Sunni-majority areas at the end of 2012 and are still ongoing.

In addition to the major problems with security, the government in Baghdad is also failing to provide adequate basic services such as electricity and clean water, while corruption is widespread.

Political squabbling has further paralysed the government, which has passed almost no major legislation in years.