BAGHDAD: At least 72 people were killed and more than 140 wounded by three bombings in Baghdad on Tuesday, police and medical sources said, extending the deadliest spate of attacks in the Iraqi capital so far this year.

The militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed one suicide bombing which killed 38 people and wounded over 70 in a marketplace in the northern, mainly Shia district of al-Shaab.

A car bomb in nearby Sadr City left at least 28 dead and 57 wounded, and another car blew up in the mixed Shia-Sunni neighbourhood of al-Rasheed, south of the capital, killing six and wounding 21, the sources said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the arrest of the security official in charge of al-Shaab’s security after the attack, his office said in a statement, without giving a reason for the detention.

Attacks claimed by IS in and around the city last week killed more than 100 people, the highest death toll in so few days so far this year, sparking anger and street protests over the government’s failure to ensure security.

Security had improved in Baghdad in recent years as sectarian tensions waned and the city’s perimeter was fortified. IS, which controls parts of north and west Iraq, has not tried to take the capital but carries out increasingly regular suicide bombings there, hitting Shia areas and government targets.

With the latest death tolls, fears are growing that Baghdad could relapse into the bloodletting of a decade ago when sectarian-motivated suicide bombings killed scores of people every week.

This has cranked up pressure on Abadi who is struggling to solve a political crisis or risk losing control of parts of Baghdad to IS militants. Away from the capital, Iraq’s military is waging a counter-offensive against the group.

Abadi has said the crisis, sparked by his attempt to reshuffle the cabinet in an anti-corruption bid, is hampering the fight against IS and creating space for more insurgent attacks on the civilian population.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2016