Baghdad (CNN) -- A string of car bombings and shootings across Iraq left more than 50 people dead Monday, authorities said, in what is the latest spate of violence in a country plagued with Sunni-Shiite tension. Scores were wounded in cities that were regularly engulfed in violence during last decade's Iraq war. The violence in recent weeks has conjured fears that all-out sectarian violence is rearing its head again in Iraq. "Those who are targeting mosques and other locations are the enemies of Sunnis and Shiite," Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said this weekend. "They are plotting to ignite sectarian strife as they have tried before."
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The strikes occurred in Hilla, Baghdad, Basra, Haditha and near Samarra
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Most of the attacks took place in predominately Shiite areas
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Violence in Iraq often alternates between Sunni and Shiite areas
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Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warns of plotters stoking sectarian strife
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Al-Maliki, who is @placeholder, is concerned about the rise of Sunni tribes forming an army to defend themselves and is urging Sunni leaders to help tamp down tensions.
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Police haven't pinpointed those responsible for assaults, but most victims in the latest round of strikes were @placeholder.
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The bombing of the @placeholder shrine in 2006 stoked the sectarian warfare.
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In Hilla, south of @placeholder in Babel province, at least nine people were killed and 53 others were wounded when a suicide bomber and a roadside bomb exploded outside Shiite mosques Monday evening.