Iraq violence: Blasts in Baghdad kill dozens

Four bomb blasts in Baghdad have killed at least 69 people,
medics say, in the latest in a series of recent attacks in the
Iraqi capital.
Three of the bombings targeted mainly Shia Muslim districts,
while another hit a mixed Shia-Sunni area.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out two of the
attacks.
The Sunni jihadist group, which controls large swathes of
northern and western Iraq, has frequently targeted Shia, whom
it considers apostates.
Medics said more than 100 civilians altogether were injured in
Tuesday's bombings, which hit three markets and a restaurant.The first and deadliest attack, which was claimed by IS, hit an
outdoor market in the northern, predominantly Shia area of
Shaab, killing at least 28 people.
A roadside bomb first exploded outside the concrete walls
surrounding the area. A suicide bomber then targeted those
who were helping the victims, a police officer said.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the arrest of a
security official in charge of the area, without giving further
details.For the second time in less than a week, bombers struck in
several parts of the capital in swift succession.
Iraqi officials and the Western coalition fighting IS believe the
militants are turning increasingly to bombs in civilian areas,
because they are losing ground on the battlefield.
In the latest campaign to push them back, Iraqi government
troops with allied militias and coalition air support say they are
pressing in on Rutba, a town in the far west of the country
which was captured by IS two years ago.
But the militants are still hitting back. On Sunday they carried
out an attack on a natural gas bottling plant just to the north
of Baghdad, starting a battle that lasted several hours.
Shortly afterwards, a bomb struck a fruit-and-vegetable
market in the mixed Shia-Sunni neighbourhood of Dora, in
Rashid, to the south, killing at least five people.
Later, 21 people were killed by a car bomb, also claimed by IS,
in a crowded market in Sadr City, a mainly Shia district in
eastern Baghdad.
A separate attack there, by a suicide bomber who targeted a
restaurant, killed nine others.
The group was also behind three car bombings in Baghdad on
Friday that left 93 people dead, and an assault on a natural
gas plant north of the city on Sunday that killed 14 people.
The attacks 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 Abadi has warned the deadlock is hampering
the fight against the jihadist group.
Meanwhile, Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes
entered the IS-controlled town of Rutba, in Anbar province,
near the Syrian border, officials said.
Officials said they faced little resistance in breaching IS
defences, but expected street battles as they approached the
centre.