By Khalid al-Ansary and Waleed Ibrahim
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Coordinated blasts destroyed four buildings and killed up to 11 people across Baghdad on Tuesday, authorities said, bringing the number killed around the capital in the last five days to 70.
The surge in violence comes amid prolonged uncertainty over who will form the next government nearly a month after a parliamentary election that produced no clear winner. Coalition negotiations could take months more.
A police source said the blasts had killed 11 people and wounded 30 more. An official with the Health Ministry put the toll at four dead and 75 wounded, with others trapped under the rubble.
The blasts took place in the Shula and Chukook districts of northwestern Baghdad, the al-Shurta al-Rabaa area of southwestern Baghdad and the Alawi district in the centre of the city, the sources said.
A suicide bomber struck near the former British embassy in central Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
The explosions hit the capital two days after coordinated suicide car bomb attacks on foreign embassies killed 41 people and wounded more than 200 others. The Iranian, Egyptian and German embassies appeared to be the targets.
Gunmen also attacked a village south of Baghdad and killed 24 people Friday.
NO CLEAR WINNER
Iraqi security forces had predicted a possible upturn of violence following the March 7 election, which highlighted Iraq's sectarian divide.
The top two coalitions, the cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and the State of Law bloc led by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, finished just two seats apart. Neither won enough to form a majority government.
All of the major coalitions are involved in talks to form a new government.
After the last parliamentary election in 2005, sectarian violence exploded as politicians took five months to reach agreement on a government.
(Additional reporting by Aseel Kami; Writing by Ian Simpson and Jim Loney; Editing by Jon Hemming)
