A series of car bombs in Baghdad have killed at least 26 people, according to local police and medics.
The five blasts targeted mainly Shi’ite Muslim neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital.
The first, a suicide car bombing at a police checkpoint in the southern district of Abu Dsheer, left seven people dead.
Four other car bombs followed in various parts of the city. Local police report that 19 people were killed in these explosions.
Two of the blasts were in Kadhimiya, a northern district which is home to a major Shi’ite shrine.
The Iraqi army and allied Shi’ite militia are trying to push back Sunni insurgents who swept through northern Iraq in July, reaching within 70 kilometres of Baghdad.
