Baghdad - A coordinated series of explosions struck a party headquarters, two mosques, a market and a shop in Baghdad on Friday, deepening the country's turmoil amid a political impasse and a concerted military campaign against the leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.

The attacks, which killed at least 58 people and wounded scores more in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq, were the worst of an intermittent wave of bombings since the parliamentary election on March 7. The outcome of the vote remains unclear, as election officials prepare to conduct a partial recount in Baghdad and possibly other provinces.

The deadliest three bombings on Friday exploded in rapid succession near the headquarters of the political movement led by the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Sadr City, the impoverished Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad that bears his family's name.

Each Friday hundreds of his followers gather in an open square there for noon prayers, and they accounted for many of the victims.

The movement's candidates did well in last month's election, giving them increased leverage to shape a new government that they say should not be led by the incumbent prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

A member of parliament from the bloc, Balqis Koli al-Kafaji, put the attacks in the context of several recent events that she said contributed to the overall chaos here: the still unresolved elections, the controversy surrounding a previously undisclosed prison in Baghdad that held Sunnis from northern Iraq, and the government's claims of recent successes in dismantling the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq, also known as al-Qaida in Mesopotamia, the main insurgent group here.

Her remarks reflected how Iraq's myriad challenges - from politics to security to human rights - are perceived to be thoroughly entwined with the violence that still engulfs the streets.

The attacks came five days after a joint Iraqi-American raid killed the top two leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq. Iraqi and American officials hailed the killings - and a series of other killings and arrests before and after - as a devastating blow to the group. At the same time they warned that retaliation was almost certain to come, though it was not clear that the group was behind the attacks on Friday.

At least seven explosions spread carnage in neighborhoods across Baghdad over the course of the day. The attacks used bombs hidden in a parked motorcycle and cars, among other places, but did not involve suicide bombers, a typical tactic of al-Qaida in Iraq.