Bombs in two majority Shi'ite Muslim cities in southern Iraq killed at least 30 people on Thursday, according to police and hospital sources.<br/> <br />Scores were also wounded in the blasts, which struck during the month of Muharram - a holy time for Shi'ites who are often targeted by al Qaeda affiliates in the country as well as by other Sunni Muslim insurgents.<br/> <br />Two explosions in Hilla - about 60 miles south of the capital Baghdad - caused the majority of Thursday's casualties.<br/> <br />In Kerbala a car bomb near a bus terminal killed several others.<br/> <br />Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Iraq so far this year following last December's withdrawal of U.S. troops.
