Blasts claim 23 Shia Muslim lives in Baghdad

At least 23 people were killed and 68 others wounded when three bombs went off in mainly Shia neighbourhoods in central Baghdad on Thursday, security and medical sources said.

Two suicide blasts claimed by the self-styled Islamic State killed at least 19 people in the commercial district of Bab al-Shargi, a demonstration that the Sunni insurgent group can still launch attacks in the heart of the capital despite government efforts to thwart them. A third explosion in the nearby Bab al-Muadham district killed four people, the sources said. A hospital source said the bombs had wounded a total of 68 people.