A series of car bombs in Baghdad have killed at least 26 people, according to local police and medics.<br /><br />The five blasts targeted mainly Shi’ite Muslim neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital.<br /><br />The first, a suicide car bombing at a police checkpoint in the southern district of Abu Dsheer, left seven people dead.<br /><br />Four other car bombs followed in various parts of the city. Local police report that 19 people were killed in these explosions.<br /><br />Two of the blasts were in Kadhimiya, a northern district which is home to a major Shi’ite shrine.<br /><br />The Iraqi army and allied Shi’ite militia are trying to push back Sunni insurgents who swept through northern Iraq in July, reaching within 70 kilometres of Baghdad.
