At least 63 people have died in Baghdad and almost 200 have been injured after a series of deadly bombings rocked the Iraqi capital.
Up to 14 coordinated attacks targeting shops, schools, markets and government buildings in neighbourhoods in the central and eastern parts of the city resulted in the worst violence to hit Iraq for several months.
Roadside bombs, car bombs and "sticky bombs" attached to cars were among the devices used, Sky News reported.
"My baby was sleeping in her bed. Shards of glass have fallen on our heads. Her father hugged her and carried her. She is now scared in the next room," one woman in western Baghdad told the Associated Press. "All countries are stable. Why don't we have security and stability?"
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, but analysts have told the BBC that the level of planning involved was only available to the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda In Iraq.
A blast in the al-Amal neighbourhood appeared to target emergency workers and officials responding to a previous explosion.
More were killed after two roadside bombs exploded in the west of the city.
Security spokesperson Major General Qassim Atta told the AFP news agency that the attackers had targeted children and government officials.
"They targeted children's schools, day workers and the anti-corruption agency," he told AFP.
Shia prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi are currently engaged in a bitter political battle that is threatening to engulf the country.
The PM has accused al-Hashemi of running a "hit squad" used to target government officials, and has issued a warrant for his arrest.
The Sunni politician is currently 'holed up' in the Kurdish region of the country but denies the charges.
Al-Maliki is also pushing for a vote of no-confidence against the deputy prime minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, another Sunni politician.
"We have warned long ago that terrorism will continue ... against the Iraqi people unless the political landscape is corrected and the political process is corrected, and it becomes an inclusive political process and full blown non-sectarian institutions will be built in Iraq," said Ayad Allawi, who heads a Sunni-backed party called Iraqiya.
The last American troops in Iraq left the country last week almost nine years after the 2003 invasion removed dictator Saddam Hussain from power.