Twenty-four people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in Iraq.
15 people were killed in a car bomb attack in the Shia holy city of Karbala and police uncovered the bodies of dozens of murdered men as the country remains engulfed in sectarian violence.
A total of 69 people were reportedly killed across Iraq in car bombings and execution-style sectarian killings, reinforcing fears the country remains on the brink of civil war as it seeks to finalise a new government.
The new violence came after a British helicopter was apparently shot down in the centre of the southern city of Basra yesterday, prompting clashes as a furious mob attempted to impede recovery efforts.
The British military in Basra has said five of its troops died in the crash, although the Ministry of Defence in London would only say there were no more than five people on board the stricken craft.
In the deadliest single attack, at least 15 people were killed and 10 wounded in a car bombing in the southern holy city of Karbala, a Shia pilgrimage centre.
A few hours before the Karbala bombing, Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 45 men killed in apparent sectarian attacks.
28 bodies were found in Baghdad's western Kharkh area, while another 15 were recovered from the eastern Rusafa district. Two other bodies were found in Madan, south of Baghdad.
A hospital source said that all the men were handcuffed and shot in the head.
Iraq, which is still without a government nearly five months after elections, has been engulfed in a vicious circle of sectarian violence since the bombing of a revered Shia shrine in the northern town of Samarra on 22 February.
