Series of attacks kills at least 15 in Iraq

A series of attacks, including several bombings in commercial areas of Baghdad, killed at least 15 people in Iraq today, officials said.
The deadliest attack struck a shopping street in the Toubachi neighbourhood in northwest Baghdad, where a bomb blast killed four people and wounded 10, police said.
Elsewhere in the capital, a bombing near a car repair shop downtown killed three and wounded eight, while an explosion in a wholesale produce market killed three more people and wounded 11, police officials said.
A roadside bomb also struck an army patrol, killing two soldiers and wounding four.
In the city's southern suburbs, police said mortar shells landed on houses, killing three people, according to police. Medical officials confirmed the causalities.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the attacks, but they come as Islamic States militants seek to expand the territory they hold in Iraq and Syria.