At least 40 corpses, shot in the head and showing signs of torture, have been found in different locations around Iraq, an interior ministry official said on Wednesday. The largest cache of 16 bodies turned up in Baladiyat in the eastern outskirts of Baghdad, while five were found in Husseiniya, northeast of the capital where a car bomb killed 22 people on Tuesday. Another four were found in Baghdad's impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City, three decapitated bodies were discovered in Muqdadiya, northeast of the capital and another 12 around Baghdad. All bodies had their hands tied and showed signs of torture, the official said.The sudden flood of corpses comes after a comparative hiatus in night-time killings believed to be carried out by armed gangs on sectarian grounds following the destruction of a Shiite shrine in February. Monday and Tuesday saw an explosion of violence and bombings around the country, mostly focused on Baghdad, that claimed the lives of over 100 people. In other violence Wednesday, a mortar attack in the southern outskirts of Baghdad killed nine people and wounded 17 on Wednesday, police sources said. They said four mortar bombs landed south of Baghdad's Dora district. No other details were immediately available.