Two explosions hit the Sadr City neighborhood of north Baghdad ahead of Friday prayers martyring three people and wounding at least eight.

Two explosions hit the Sadr City neighborhood of north Baghdad ahead of Friday prayers martyring three people and wounding at least eight, security and medical officials said.

The twin blasts struck at around 12:30 pm (09:30 GMT) as worshippers were gathering for prayers on the Muslim holy day.

Medics at Al-Sadr General Hospital and Imam Ali Hospital, both nearby, said three people were martyred and eight wounded in the attacks, while an interior ministry official put the toll at three dead and 16 hurt.

A police officer at the scene of the blasts said they were caused by mortar fire. All spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials in the main northern city of Mosul, meanwhile, on Friday morning found four dead bodies, all men in their 30s who suffered gunshots to the head and chest. It was unclear why they were targeted.

Both police First Lieutenant Mohammad al-Juburi and doctor Mahmoud Haddad at Mosul General Hospital said the men appeared to have been killed late Thursday evening.

The violence came after the conclusion of the three-day festival of Eid al-Fitr, which had been relatively calm after violence during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan left 409 people dead.

Friday's unrest takes to 242 the number of people martyred in attacks nationwide this month, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.