Baghdad:
A car bomb exploded in the Shiite-majority district of Karrada in central Baghdad on Friday, killing at least five people and wounding 21, security and medical officials said.
The attack comes as security forces and allied Shiite militiamen and Sunni tribesmen fight to regain ground from militants led by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group who overran swathes of the country in June.
It follows a suicide bombing, car bomb and shelling that struck Shiite-majority areas of northern Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 28 people and wounding more than 60.
Accounts of those attacks varied and many of the victims were civilians, but two security officials said an army intelligence base where senior militants are jailed was among the targets.
In addition to the blasts and shelling, two more suicide bombers were arrested near the base before they could attack, officials said.
Sunni extremists often target members of Iraq's Shiite majority, whom they consider heretics, and also frequently attack security forces.
The United States has carried out a more than five-week air campaign against the IS jihadists, while France has announced it will take part in strikes on them in Iraq as well.