A series of bombings around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have killed at least 12 people, the Associated Press reports.

Police say the deadliest in bombings Wednesday, Jan 15, took place in Baghdad's northern Shula neighborhood, where a parked car bomb exploded in an outdoor market, killing five shoppers and wounding 12.

Another car bomb in a commercial area in the central Karrada area killed four civilians and wounded 14. Three civilians were killed and eight were wounded by a bomb in another market in the eastern Maamil area.

Medical officials confirmed the causality figures, according to the AP.

Iraq remains gripped by violence as al Qaeda-linked militants took control of two cities in Anbar province, west of Baghdad.