Wave of bombings kills 29 people in Baghdad, Iraqi officials say

BAGHDAD – A series of bombings ripped through Baghdad on Friday, mainly targeting public places and killing at least 29 people, Iraqi officials said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but violence has escalated both in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq in the wake of Islamic State group's capture of large swaths of territory in the country's west and north during a blitz last year. The Islamic State has taken credit for similar attacks in the past, especially those targeting Shiites, as well as Iraqi security forces and government buildings.

The deadliest of Friday's attacks came when a car bomb detonated near an out-door market in the capital's southwestern Amil neighborhood, killing nine people and wounding 20 there, police officials said.

Half an hour later, a car bomb went off inside a car dealership in the Shiite neighborhood of Habibya in eastern Baghdad, killed eight people, police said. Several cars were burned in the attack.

Earlier, a bomb blast on a commercial street in the southeastern Shiite New Baghdad district killed four people and wounded nine. Also, a bomb exploded near an outdoor market in the Dora neighborhood, killing three shoppers and another bomb blast near a cafe killed three people in the capital's southeastern suburbs.

A roadside bomb exploded near a patrol of Sunni fighters known as Sahwa in southern Baghdad, killing two of the force's members. The Sahwa fighters joined forces with U.S. troops at the height of the Iraq insurgency to fight al-Qaida and other Sunni militants.

Medical officials confirmed the casualties in Friday's attacks. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.