A pair of car bombings today in central Iraq killed at least four people and left another 15 wounded, police said.

One exploded in the afternoon near an outdoor market and Sunni Muslim mosque in the neighborhood of al-Obeidi, a predominantly Shiite area in eastern Baghdad. That blast killed at least three people and wounded another eight, Baghdad police officials said.

About 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest in Taji, one person died after a car bomb detonated on a busy road, the same officials said. At least seven others were wounded in that explosion.

Attacks have declined dramatically in Iraq since 2008, but sporadic violence continues and there has been a spate of deadly attacks in recent weeks.

Figures from Iraq's Interior, Defense and Health ministries say 144 Iraqi civilians, policemen and soldiers were killed in acts of violence across the country in October.  Civilians made up most of the casualties.

Late that month, dozens were killed and scores wounded in a wave of attacks, including several car bombings, during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

The Shiite-dominated government blamed such attacks on Sunni insurgents with ties to al Qaeda.