RAPID-FIRE bombings and mortar strikes killed 62 people and wounded more than 180 across Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhoods last night.

The blasts came just two days after gunmen in Baghdad held a Christian congregation hostage in a siege that ended with 58 people dead.

The bombings began at about 6:15pm and took place in at least 10 neighborhoods, involving booby-trapped cars, roadside bombs and mortar strikes. The attacks appeared directed mostly at the city's majority Shiite population, though some blasts occurred in Sunni neighborhoods as well.

• mostly [´məustli] ad.主要地；多半；通常 (初中英语单词)
• mortar [´mɔ:tə] n.灰浆 vt.用灰浆涂抹 (英语四级单词)
• congregation [,kɔŋgri´geiʃən] n.集合；团体 (英语四级单词)
• roadside [´rəudsaid] n.&a.路边(的) (英语四级单词)