Officials said the deadliest blast occurred on Thursday at a secondhand motorcycle market in Baghdad's sprawling eastern Sadr City district.

The bomb, according to the authorities, appears to have been placed on a motorcycle at the market, killing 12 people and wounding at least 25 others.

Also in Sadr City, officials added, a bomb attached to a minibus was detonated, killing five civilians and wounding 14 more.

The authorities further stated that another bomb planted on a minibus killed four and wounded 11 others in the northern Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad.

A police officer and two medical officials confirmed casualty figures from the attacks. They, however, spoke on condition of anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The latest incidents of violence came at a time when Iraqi troops, backed by local Sunni tribesmen, are fighting al-Qaeda-affiliated militants in the country’s western regions, including Anbar Province.

Violence erupted in Anbar late December, when security forces dismantled a protest camp which the government said was used by militants for launching terrorist attacks.

According to figures compiled by the Iraqi ministries of health, interior and defense, some 1,013 people were killed in January alone, making it the deadliest month since April 2008.

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