"The bloodshed today is a result of sectarian hatred," Maliki said in televised remarks on Thursday. "These crimes are a natural result of the sectarian mindset."

A string of bombings hit seven different areas of the capital, Baghdad and killed at least 34 people.

On Thursday, a car bomb in the Sadr City area of Baghdad also claimed the lives of six people and wounded 17, while another in Kamaliyah in the capital's east killed three and wounded nine, security and medical officials said.

In another incident, gunmen shot dead the brother of a lawmaker in the Bayaa area of south Baghdad, they said.

In Iraq's north, a bomber driving an explosives-rigged vehicle killed two soldiers and wounded three in Mosul, while a car bomb wounded two police.

A wave of violence began on April 23 when militants invaded security checkpoints near the town of Hawijah in north Iraq, sparking clashes in which 53 people were killed.

Dozens more died in subsequent unrest, including attacks targeting security forces in Kirkuk, Nineveh, Diyala and Anbar provinces, raising fears of a return to the all-out conflict that took the lives of tens of thousands of people from 2006 to 2008.