Bombings kill 23 in Baghdad area

Bombings in and around the Iraqi capital, including two car bombs near a football field, killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 60 on Thursday, security and medical officials said.

With the latest violence, more than 200 people have been killed and over 550 wounded in attacks in February, according to an Agence France Presse toll based on security and medical sources.

An interior ministry official said one car bomb exploded near a football field in the Shuala area of Baghdad, followed by a second after security forces arrived at the scene.

The blasts killed at least 19 people and wounded at least 30, medical officials said.

In Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, a militant detonated a hand grenade when people attempted to arrest him, and five bombs exploded nearby, killing at least two people and wounding at least seven, security and medical officials said.

Two roadside bombs also exploded in the Shurta al-Rabea area of south Baghdad, killing one person and wounding seven, while a car bomb in Aziziyah, southeast of Baghdad, killed one person and wounded 17, officials said.

Violence in Iraq is down significantly from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but even 10 years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country, attacks still occur almost every day.