UPDATED: 2 killed, 9 wounded in blasts in central, north and southeast Baghdad

(IraqiNews.com) Two civilians were killed and nine others were wounded on Wednesday when bomb blasts hit areas in central, northern and southeastern Baghdad, according to security sources.

Shafaaq News quoted security sources as saying that a booby-trapped car exploded in al-Rusafa, near al-Shawraja, the biggest commercial center in the Iraqi capital. The sources said one was killed and four others were wounded in an initial casualty count.

One person was killed and three others injured when a roadside bomb went off at al-Nahrawan district, southeast of Baghdad, a security source said in a press statement.

Another explosive device planted on the side of a road also exploded in al-Taji region, north of the capital.

Violence surged in Iraq with the emergence of Islamic State militants who took over large areas of the country in 2014. Baghdad has been witnessing almost daily bombings targeting civilians and security personnel. Nobody has claimed responsibility yet for the Tuesday bombings, but IS militants have said they were responsible for several bloody explosions that hit the capital in the past weeks, bringing the province’s municipal and security officials under critics’ fire.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) said violence in the country left 19000 casualties in nine months of 2016.

Observers believe Islamic State have begun to escalate attacks outside the city of Mosul, where the group has been losing ground and personnel since October, so as to relieve pressure by government forces on that front and to divert attention from group losses.

While losing Mosul could be the severest blow to the group’s existence in Iraq, some observers believe attacks outside the province prove that the extremist group can still pose a security threat.