Three of the bombings targeted mainly Shia Muslim districts, while another hit a mixed Shia-Sunni area. So-called Islamic State (IS) has so far said it carried out one of the attacks. The Sunni jihadist group, which controls large swathes of northern and western Iraq, has frequently targeted Shia, whom it considers apostates. Medics said more than 100 civilians altogether were injured in Tuesday's bombings, which hit three markets and a restaurant.The first and deadliest attack hit an outdoor market in the northern, predominantly Shia area of Shaab, killing at least 28 people.
A roadside bomb first exploded outside the concrete walls surrounding the area. A suicide bomber then targeted those who were helping the victims, a police officer said. Authorities first said a female bomber was behind the attack, but IS identified the bomber as a man, saying he targeted a gathering of Shia militiamen.For the second time in less than a week, bombers struck in several parts of the capital in swift succession. Iraqi officials and the Western coalition fighting IS believe the militants are turning increasingly to bombs in civilian areas, because they are losing ground on the battlefield.
In the latest campaign to push them back, Iraqi government troops with allied militias and coalition air support say they are pressing in on Rutba, a town in the far west of the country which was captured by IS two years ago. But the militants are still hitting back. On Sunday they carried out an attack on a natural gas bottling plant just to the north of Baghdad, starting a battle that lasted several hours. Shortly afterwards, a bomb struck a fruit-and-vegetable market in the mixed Shia-Sunni neighbourhood of Dora, in Rashid, to the south, killing at least five people.
Later, 21 people were killed by a car bomb in a crowded outdoor market in Sadr City, a mainly Shia district in eastern Baghdad. A separate attack there, by a suicide bomber who targeted a restaurant, killed nine others.
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