Baghdad residents prepare to bury their dead after a bloody day in the Iraqi capital.<br /> <br />Car bomb and other attacks claimed at least 86 lives and wounded more than 260 people Wednesday, according to police and medical sources.<br /> <br />The government has downplayed the death toll, saying 20 were killed.<br /> <br />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.<br /> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT WHOSE BROTHER WAS KILLED IN BLAST, SALAH ABDUL HAMEED, SAYING:<br /> <br />"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."<br /> <br />It was not immediately clear who carried out the apparently coordinated attacks, but Sunni Muslim insurgents have stepped up bombings this year.
