IRBIL, Iraq — Five car bombs detonated in the Iraqi capital on Monday, marking a bloody start to the year as Iraq attempts to squeeze Islamic State militants from their last remaining territory in the country.

Sixty-four people were killed in the attacks, according to a security official from Baghdad Operations Command, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the death toll.

The worst bombing killed 30 people in a market in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, a largely Shiite neighborhood that is a regular target for the Islamic State. The attacker was driving an explosives-laden pickup truck and pretended to be recruiting day laborers, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said at a news conference. He waited for them to crowd around the vehicle and then set off the bomb.

The Islamic State asserted responsibility via the affiliated Amaq news agency.
Iraqi forces are 2½ months into an offensive to oust the group from the northern city of Mosul, the largest population center that the group controls. They have slowly clawed back territory, but the militants have not ceded ground easily, inflicting heavy casualties.

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Image courtesy of EPA