Iraq: Bombings kill 18 in and around Baghdad

A series of bombings targeting public places and Iraqi security forces killed 18 people in and around Baghdad on Tuesday, officials said.
The deadliest attack took place today, when a car bomb went off near restaurants and shop in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 20 there, police officials said.
Several shops and cars were burned in the attack and police sealed off the blast area.
Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb struck an army patrol in Youssifiyah, just south of the Iraqi capital, killing three soldiers and one civilian. At least eight people were wounded in that attack, the officials said.

And two separate explosions near a vegetable market and on a commercial street killed six people and wounded 21 in western Baghdad.
Medical officials in nearby hospitals confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Baghdad and outlying areas see near-daily bombings, and many of them are later claimed by the Islamic State group, which seized large parts of the country during a stunning blitz last year.