Attacks in Iraq around religious ritual kill 22

The group recently escalated its campaign of violence in order to thwart the Shiite-led government's efforts to maintain security.

Violence spiked in Iraq since a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest camp in April, with the pace of killing reaching levels unseen since 2008, leaving more than 5,500 people died since then, according to United Nations figures.

Wednesday's attacks bring the death toll across the country this month to 134, according to an Associated Press count.