Baghdad ( CNN ) -- Car bombs rocked a number of predominantly Shiite Muslim neighborhoods of Baghdad on Monday , killing at least 13 people and wounding 53 others , police officials told CNN . The violence adds to the particularly bloody fighting and political instability that Iraq and its capital , Baghdad , has seen in recent months . Six car bombs detonated Monday in five neighborhoods across Baghdad within a period of about two hours , police said . The blasts come two days after at least 19 people were killed in bombings in the capital . Separately , on Wednesday , at least 61 people were killed and scores wounded in attacks in Baghdad and across the country . The United Nations said 2013 was the deadliest year in Iraq since 2008 , with almost 8,000 people killed in violence , most of them civilians . Fears of all-out sectarian war have increased since fighting broke out recently to the west of Baghdad in Anbar province , where al Qaeda-backed militants and Iraq 's security forces have been battling for control of Falluja and Ramadi . The violence recalls the bloody fighting at the height of the Iraq War that nearly tore the country apart . On Saturday , U.S. Vice President Joe Biden talked with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki about U.S. support for Iraq 's fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria , a group trying to overthrow the Iraqi government . Biden 's office said the two leaders agreed on the importance of the Iraqi government 's continued outreach to local and tribal leaders in Anbar province .
Six car bombs explode in five neighborhoods across Baghdad . Bombings happen within two-hour span , police say .