Iraq’s cabinet decided on Tuesday to postpone provincial elections in two provinces that were scheduled for April 20 by up to six months over security concerns, the Iraqi premier’s spokesman said.

Iraq's cabinet decided on Tuesday to postpone provincial elections in two provinces that were scheduled for April 20 by up to six months over security concerns, the Iraqi premier's spokesman said.

Polls in Anbar province in west Iraq and Nineveh in the north have been delayed, Ali Mussawi told AFP, noting that candidates have been threatened and killed, while there were also requests for a delay from the two provinces.

The announcement came as the death toll from 20 attacks that fell on Tuesday exceeded 50, while 171 others were wounded.

A wave of car bombs and shootings killed at least 50 people on Tuesday during morning rush hour.

The wave of car bombs and assassinations in and around Baghdad fell on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Police and army established checkpoints and even searched government-marked vehicles that typically pass uninspected, as the security forces stepped up searches and closed off key roads, according to AFP.

The attacks struck the neighborhoods of Husseiniyah, Mashtal, Zafraniyah, Baghdad Jadidah, Kadhimiyah, Sadr City and Shuala, as well as the town of Iskandiriyah, just south of the capital.

Two people were also gunned down in Saidiyah and Mansur.