A spate of rush hour bombs, mostly sectarian attacks, killed 25 people Tuesday in the first major series of attacks to hit the capital since elections last month.

A spate of rush hour bombs, mostly sectarian attacks, killed 25 people Tuesday in the first major series of attacks to hit the capital since elections last month.

The blasts, which also wounded 80 people, came as officials tallied votes from April 30 parliamentary polls amid a protracted surge in bloodshed that has killed more than 3,300 people this year.

The government has blamed external factors, such as the war raging in neighboring Syria, for the escalating unrest this year.

At least nine car bombs went off throughout the morning, when the city is typically gridlocked.

Two of them exploded near a traffic police headquarters in the eastern Baladiyat neighborhood, and blasts also hit Sadr City, Urr, Jamila, Maamal and the central commercial district of Karrada.

Another vehicle rigged with explosives was also detonated in the area of Arab Jubour, killing three, while a roadside bomb also went off near a police patrol in west Baghdad, killing one.

Smoke could be seen rising above several areas of the capital, and AFP journalists reported several shop fronts badly damaged and nearby cars reduced to mangled wrecks of metal.