Three bomb blasts in Baghdad have killed at least 53 people, medics say, the latest in a series of attacks in the Iraqi capital in the past week.
A female suicide bomber is believed to have targeted a market in the northern, mainly Shia Muslim area of Shaab. The other bombs went off at a market in the neighbouring predominantly Shia district of Sadr City and among shoppers in Rashid, to the south.
The jihadist group Islamic State (IS) said it carried out the Shaab attack.
IS militants were also behind three car bombings in Baghdad on Friday, which left killed 93 people, and an assault on a natural gas plant north of the city on Sunday that left at least 14 people dead. More than 100 civilians were injured in Tuesday’s attacks, medics said.
Analysts say a spate of suicide bombings carried out by IS signal a shift in strategy, after the group lost a significant amount territory to Iraqi pro-government forces, backed by US-led coalition air strikes. The attacks also come with Iraq locked in a political crisis, with parliament resisting attempts to reshuffle the cabinet as part of an anti-corruption drive.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned the deadlock is hampering the fight against IS, which still controls large swathes of northern and western Iraq.
Recent IS Attacks
11 May 2016: Car bombs in Baghdad kill 93 people, including 64 in market in Shia district of Sadr City
1 May 2016: Two car bombs kill at least 33 people in southern city of Samawa
26 March 2016: Suicide attack targets football match in central city of Iskandariya, killing at least 32
6 March 2016: Fuel tanker blown up at checkpoint near central city of Hilla, killing 47
28 February 2016: Twin suicide bomb attacks hit market in Sadr City, killing 70