At least 17 people have been killed in three explosions across Baghdad in Iraq this morning.
The most deadly explosion took place in Taji, where a suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives detonated his bomb near an army base, killing at least seven people and wounding 24.
Another car bomb exploded in a crowded market in the Shia neighbourhood of Shula, northwestern Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 13.
In Mahmudiya, a car bomb attack near an army checkpoint killed five people, including two soldiers, and wounded 14 more.
The attacks came with Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki facing increasing pressure from a political crisis.
Mr Maliki's government is trying to ease mass Sunni protests that erupted a month ago.
His central government is also locked in a dispute with the country's autonomous Kurdistan region over control of oilfields.
