Bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 31 people in a Shia area of Baghdad Sunday, security and medical officials said, the deadliest attacks to hit the Iraqi capital this year. IS also attacked an army position west of Baghdad, temporarily holding it and killing at least eight security personnel over the course of the day.
The two blasts near a market in the Sadr City area of northern Baghdad, at least one of which was a suicide bombing, also wounded at least 76 people, security and medical officials said.
IS, which overran swathes of territory north and west of Baghdad in 2014, claimed the attacks in a statement online that said two suicide bombers had detonated explosive belts in Sadr City. IS considers Shia Muslims, who make up the majority of Iraq's population, to be heretics and frequently targets them with bombings and other attacks.
Suicide bombings are a tactic almost exclusively used in Iraq by IS.
The jihadist group claimed twin suicide bombings targeting Shia worshippers on Thursday that killed at least nine people in Shuala, another Shia-majority area in northern Baghdad.