At least 31 people have been killed in car bombings across Iraq on Monday, Reuters reported.
20 were killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, mainly in Shia areas, while 11 more people were killed in the Southern city of Basra, polcie and medics were quoted as saying.
Sectarian violence has escalated in Iraq in recent weeks between Sunni and Shia Muslim groups with Iraq currently in its bloodiest phase since the American troop withdrawal in December 2011.
Eight car bombs exploded in largely Shia areas of the Iraqi capital on Monday, whilst two car bombs rocked Basra.
The day before, 10 policemen were killed by unidentified gunmen in Rawah, northeast of Baghdad and 60 Sunni Muslims were killed in car bombings in the capital over the weekend.
More than 700 people were killed in the country during April, the highest monthly figure for almost five years, according to UN figures.
