A wave of car bombs ripped through Iraq’s capital, the deadliest attacks in nationwide violence that killed 50 people on Tuesday as Iraq grapples with surging unrest.

A wave of car bombs ripped through Iraq's capital, the deadliest attacks in nationwide violence that killed 50 people on Tuesday as Iraq grapples with surging unrest.

Eleven car bombs went off in Baghdad, killing at least 40 people and leaving dozens wounded, according to security and medical officials.

The blasts went off minutes apart at around 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), the latest in a trend of attacks timed to coincide with Baghdadis visiting cafes and other public areas during the evening.

Nine other people were killed in attacks earlier the same day, officials said.

Another car bomb went off near a mosque in eastern Baghdad.

And a vehicle rigged with explosives in Talbiyah, in the north, was detonated near a crowded wholesale fruit and vegetable market. It badly damaged several cars and more than a dozen shops.

Ten other people were killed in attacks earlier in the day, officials said.

In the morning, gunmen entered the home of a Sahwa militiaman in south Baghdad and killed him, as well as his wife, two sons and a daughter.

Also on Tuesday, two men were shot dead outside their homes in south Baghdad, while a policeman was killed by a roadside bomb in Mosul.

Although attacks have killed more than 3,900 people since the start of the year, officials have vowed to press on with a campaign targeting militants that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says has captured 800 fighters and killed dozens of others, as well as dismantling training camps and bomb-making sites.