At least 22 killed in Baghdad bombings

Five car bombs, which were apparently synchronised, have struck southern and northern Baghdad, targeting neighbourhoods mostly inhabited by Shi'ites.

At least 22 people have been killed and 74 wounded in five car bombings in Iraqi capital Baghdad. (AAP)

At least 22 people have been killed and 74 wounded in five car bombings that hit several parts of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

The apparently synchronised attacks occurred in southern and northern Baghdad, targeting neighbourhoods mostly inhabited by Shi'ites.

The deadliest bombing took place in the northern district of Khadimiya, leaving seven people dead and 19 injured, an unnamed security official told independent news site Almada Press on Saturday.

Iraq has suffered increasing violence during the last year, much of it blamed on the radical Sunni group, Islamic State, and aimed at security forces and Shi'ite civilians.

Last month, the splinter al-Qaeda group, which controls areas in eastern Syria, also seized large chunks of territory in Iraq's Sunni heartland in the north and west, raising international fears about the emergence of a regional militant enclave.

According to the UN, 5600 civilians have been killed in Iraq this year.