Bomb blasts killed at least 20 people in Iraq Wednesday, and the U.S. military urged Iraqi political leaders to increase efforts to stem the bloodshed.
Iraqi security officials say a car bomb blast in a Shi'ite neighborhood in eastern Baghdad killed at least 10 people and wounded 25 others.
Later, two car bombs exploded in another eastern suburb, killing five day laborers and wounding 10 others.
In the town of Riyadh, some 50 kilometers south of Kirkuk, suicide car bombers attacked an Iraqi army base and killed at least five soldiers and wounded 10 others.
In a village south of Baghdad, gunmen stormed a house and killed nine members of a Shi'ite family.
U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell warned that the upsurge in violence will continue unless Iraqi political leaders make a greater effort to overcome their differences.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.