Attacks, including 13 car bombs in mainly Shiite-populated areas of Iraq, killed at least 18 people Wednesday, highlighting the persistent danger from militants 11 years after American forces took Baghdad. The latest violence is part of a protracted surge in nationwide bloodshed that has killed more than 2,400 people so far this year and sparked fears Iraq is slipping back into the all-out sectarian fighting of 2006-7. The unrest has been driven principally by complaints among the Sunni Arab mi**rity of mistreatment at the hands of the Shiite-led government and security forces, as well as spillover from the civil war in neighbouring Syria. Eight car bombs struck seven separate areas of Baghdad around 10:00 am (0700 GMT), killing at least 11 people and wounding at least 49, security and medical officials said.