Three apparently coordinated blasts in central Baghdad killed at least four people and injured at least 14, a week after four coordinated blasts in the same area left more than 100 dead and hundreds more injured, police said.
One of the blasts took place outside the heavily fortified "Green Zone," in a garage close to the Iranian embassy, destroying 15 cars parked in the garage. A second blast struck near the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Migration, and a third exploded near a popular restaurant.
Violence also continued in the troubled northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, police there told dpa, with two car bombs exploding in the city centre, killing at least six people and injuring at least 55 more.
Police said all the casualties were civilians from a crowded district in Mosul's ancient city centre, though the neighbourhood is also home to police barracks.
Baghdad's al-Sharq al-Awsat news agency cited police as saying that the apparent target of the Mosul blasts was the local church in the district of al-Shafaa.
Religious and community leaders from the city's large Christian minority in recent weeks have told dpa that local Christians have been subject to an escalating campaign of attacks and threats ahead of the March parliamentary elections.
Mosul and its environs are among Iraq's most ethnically and religiously diverse regions, and among the most dangerous. Despite successive security pushes that police say have netted hundreds of suspected insurgents, armed groups continue to launch near-daily attacks with deadly effect. dpa ka ag zar se im mt mga