Two car bombs exploded in a sheep market south of Baghdad on Friday, killing five people and wounding dozens of others, officials said.

Brigadier General Abdul Jalil al-Assadi, the police chief of Diwaniyah province, said the bombs went off about 7:30 am (0430 GMT) in the market, south of the province's eponymous capital.

Dr Adnan Turki, the director of the Diwaniyah health department, put the toll from the blasts at five dead and 45 wounded.

The blasts came a day after at least 26 people were killed and more than 60 wounded in a series of bomb attacks in the Baghdad area and shootings in northern Iraq.

Violence in Iraq is down significantly from its 2006-2007 peak, but even 10 years after the 2003 US-led invasion which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, attacks still occur almost every day.