Baghdad residents prepare to bury their dead after a bloody day in the Iraqi capital.
Car bomb and other attacks claimed at least 86 lives and wounded more than 260 people Wednesday, according to police and medical sources.
The government has downplayed the death toll, saying 20 were killed.
But there's fraught tension in the air. Here in al-Amil district, one man who lost his brother said the army fired on residents when they rushed to a checkpoint for help.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT WHOSE BROTHER WAS KILLED IN BLAST, SALAH ABDUL HAMEED, SAYING:
"When people went to the army who were manning a checkpoint for help, they opened fire on them and wounded them. A man was wounded. They opened fire on the people. We tried to get access to the area to evacuate the wounded and the dead but they stopped us."
It was not immediately clear who carried out the apparently coordinated attacks, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have stepped up bombings this year.
