17 killed in Baghdad area bombings: officials

Five bomb attacks across Baghdad this evening killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 others, security and medical officials said.
The blasts struck both Sunni and Shiite neighbourhoods across the capital, from the Shiite slum neighbourhood of Sadr City in northeast Baghdad to the Sunni western suburb of Radhwaniyah.
The blasts all went off after 6:00 pm (2030 IST), marking the latest in a months-long trend of attacks timed to go off in the evening as Iraqis mass at cafes, restaurants and other public meeting places.
In previous months and years, attacks had typically been timed to coincide with morning rush hour.

Mired in a protracted surge in bloodshed, Iraq has been forced to appeal for international help to combat militancy only months before its first general election in four years.
Unrest is currently at its highest level since 2008, when Iraq was recovering from the worst of its Sunni-Shiite sectarian war.