At least three deadly car bombs exploded Tuesday in and around Baghdad, including one that killed at least 18 people and wounded 43 more, police officials said.
That attack occurred in a busy commercial area of New Baghdad, a neighborhood in the Iraqi capital that is home mostly to Shiite Muslims.
Another car bomb struck a security checkpoint in al-Tarmiya, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of Baghdad, killing four security officers and injuring 20 more people.
There was also a similar attack in the southeastern Baghdad neighborhood of al-Zafaraniya that left two dead and nine others wounded, according to police.
Mandali, a city about 85 miles east of Baghdad and 55 miles from Baquoba, was the site of a fatal car bombing as well.
A blast there, in an outdoor market, killed at least five people and wounded 18 more, police and health officials said.
It was not immediately clear if the attacks were coordinated or what group was responsible.
ISIS has been behind much of the violence around Iraq in recent years, taking over vast swaths of the country and neighboring Syria. But not all attacks can be pinned on that militant group — especially in the capital, where attacks targeting Shiite or Sunni Muslims have happened for years.
One of the most gruesome such attacks happened late last week on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, a joyous Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
That’s when a suicide bomber in an ice truck lured more than 100 people, who’d come seeking relief from the scorching summer heat, to their deaths in Khan Bani Saad about 25 miles north of Baghdad. ISIS claimed responsibility for that carnage on Twitter.
