Bombings in Baghdad kill 46; Islamic State claims one attack

BAGHDAD, May 17 (UPI) -- The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for one of a series of bombings Tuesday in Baghdad that killed at least 46 people.

At least 24 people were killed after a car bomb detonation in Baghdad's predominately Shia Sadr City district, while another bomb was deactivated by a bomb squad in the same area. Two additional explosions occurred in northern Baghdad's also predominately Shiite al-Shaab neighborhood, where at least 19 people were killed and 44 were injured. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the al-Shaab attack.

Another explosion occurred at a popular market in southern Baghdad's Nahiyet al-Rashid district, where at least three people died.

Tuesday's Baghdad bombings follow a increase in attacks targeting the Iraqi capital where more than 100 people have died in the past week. The Sunni Islamic State considers Shiites to be heretics and has targeted them in its bombing campaign.

The Islamic State -- also identified as Daesh, ISIS and ISIL -- has increased suicide bombings in Iraq as a strategy shift following significant battlefield defeats at the hands of Iraqi security forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga, aided by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.