At least 40 corpses, shot in the head and showing signs of torture, have been found in different locations around Iraq, an interior ministry official said on Wednesday.
The largest cache of 16 bodies turned up in Baladiyat in the eastern outskirts of Baghdad, while five were found in Husseiniya, northeast of the capital where a car bomb killed 22 people on Tuesday.
Another four were found in Baghdad's impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City, three decapitated bodies were discovered in Muqdadiya, northeast of the capital and another 12 around Baghdad.
All bodies had their hands tied and showed signs of torture, the official said.
The sudden flood of corpses comes after a comparative hiatus in night-time killings believed to be carried out by armed gangs on sectarian grounds following the destruction of a Shiite shrine in February.
Monday and Tuesday saw an explosion of violence and bombings around the country, mostly focused on Baghdad, that claimed the lives of over 100 people.
In other violence Wednesday, a bomb went off against a police patrol in the northern city of Mosul, wounding five policemen and 12 civilians.
Clashes also erupted in Baghdad when insurgents assaulted a police station in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah with explosions audible across the city, but no reports of casualties.
{{/usCountry}}Clashes also erupted in Baghdad when insurgents assaulted a police station in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah with explosions audible across the city, but no reports of casualties.
{{/usCountry}}A joint Japanese-Australian patrol was attacked by a roadside bomb in Samawa, south of Baghdad and a civilian was injured.
The former governor of the southern province of Qaddisiyah was shot dead in Diwaniyah, also south of Baghdad, on Tuesday.