Baghdad (AFP) - Attacks including suicide bombings in Baghdad killed at least 39 people Tuesday, the second time in a week the Iraqi capital has been hit by a deadly spate of violence.
The attacks bring the toll to more than 140 people killed in just seven days in and near Baghdad.
The unrest highlights significant flaws in Baghdad security procedures that have gone largely unaddressed even as US-led forces train their Iraqi counterparts for the fight against the IS group.
The deadliest attack hit the Sadr City area in northern Baghdad, where a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle, killing at least 21 people, security and medical officials said.
Another attack hit the Shaab area, also in northern Baghdad, killing at least 15.
Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said it was carried out by a female suicide bomber, while a police colonel said there was a roadside bombing followed by the suicide attack.
But IS issued a statement claiming the attack, which it said was carried out by a man identified as Abu Khattab al-Iraqi. The bomber threw hand grenades and then detonated a suicide belt, IS said.
Attacks by female suicide bombers are rare in Iraq, though they were once more common. Two mentally disabled women wearing suicide vests killed nearly 100 people at Baghdad pet markets in early 2008. Two women also detonated explosives at one of the country's holiest Shiite sites the following year, killing more than 60 people, while a 2010 attack on Shiite pilgrims by a female bomber left over 40 dead.
