UPDATED: official says casualties from 2 Baghdad blasts up to 62

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Casualties from two suicide bombings that hit central Baghdad early Tuesday have stood at 62, according to a local official.

Sputnik agency quoted Mohamed al-Rubaiy, deputy chairman of the security committee at Baghdad council, saying that was the final toll from the explosions that hit Shohadaa Bridge and Karrada areas.

The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing in Karrada which Rubaiy said killed 10 people and wounded 32 others late Monday.

The bombing was carried out by suicide bomber who drove a booby-trapped car into a crowded square of Karrada near an ice cream shop.

Rubaiy said the other bombing in Shohadaa, which occurred near a government agency, killed seven people and wounded eleven others.

Violence and armed conflicts claimed the lives of 317 Iraqis and caused injuries to 403 others during the month of April, according to a monthly United Nations count.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Nineveh, where U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops are caught up in battles against Islamic State militants in Mosul since October, was the most affected governorate, with 276 casualties (153 killed, 123 injured). Baghdad Governorate followed with 55 killed and 179 injured. Salahuddin came third, with 15 killed and 43 injured.

Baghdad has seen almost daily bombings and armed attacks against security members, paramilitary groups and civilians since the Iraqi government launched a wide-scale campaign to retake IS-occupied areas in 2016.

Karrada had been the scene of one of Baghdad’s deadliest attacks in 2016 when separate suicide bombings left 300 people dead in one day. The incident forced the resignation of Iraq’s former interior minister.