Two car bombs exploded on Tuesday in Karrada, a predominantly Shi’a district of Baghdad, killing at least 21, according to the Associated Press.
Storeowners, passersby and six policemen were killed in the detonation.
A second bomb exploded near a passport office a few blocks away from the Iraqi Interior Ministry’s Major Crimes Unit offices.
According to officials, the second bomb killed 15 and wounded 35.
As police forces helped victims of the attack, Al-Qaeda members dressed as policemen entered a nearby station where fellow operatives were being detained. Their attempts at an escape were, however, reportedly foiled before they could free any prisoners.
The attack is the most recent in a wave of violence in Iraq that has claimed the lives of approximately 245 people in July with no signs of an end to the sustained violence.
Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, as the militant organisation attempts to regain its foothold after losing a substantial presence in the Anbar province leading up to the withdrawal of United States troops in December 2011.
In an audio recording earlier this month Al-Qaeda military leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi promised to free prisoners and kill those prosecuting them.
He also said Al-Qaeda would return to the lands it was previously forced out from and asked Muslims around the world to join him in “jihad” in Iraq against the Shi’a.
The attacks happened during a month where thousands of Shi’a pilgrims descended on the shrine of the Imam Hussein in Karbala. The Imam Hussein is the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and a revered religious figure in Shi’ism.
