Blasts in Baghdad kill at least 63

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- At least 63 people were killed and 285 others were wounded in a series of explosions across the capital Tuesday, police said.

The blasts included 14 car bombs, two roadside bombs and mortar attacks in at least 17 neighborhoods of the capital, most of them in Shiite neighborhoods, police said.

In an earlier report, police said there had been three roadside bombs and a sticky bomb: a device typically placed on a vehicle.

Explosions struck the Shiite neighborhoods of Kadhimiya in the northwest; Amil, Bayaa and Shulaa in the southwest; Ur and Zuhour in the northeast; Sadr City, Kamaliya and Amin in the east; and Abu Dhsir in the southern part of the city.

Other blasts struck mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods, including Waziriya, Yarmouk, Jihad and Eghraiat.

"We are aware of multiple explosions in the Baghdad area with resultant casualties," the U.S. military said in response to a query from CNN. "At this time, no request for [U.S. Forces - Iraq] support has been made but we are providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance coverage over some of the explosion sites."

A U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, said the strikes are typical of al Qaeda in Iraq attacks.

During the height of the Iraq war, sectarian violence tore through Baghdad on a daily basis in Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods.

Tuesday's incidents come two days after a hostage standoff at a Catholic church in Baghdad ended with 58 people dead.

Seventy-five others were wounded in the attack by gunmen Sunday, officials said, adding that most of the casualties were women and children.

That hours-long standoff ended Sunday after Iraqi security forces stormed the Sayidat al-Nejat church.