Bombings kill at least 22 in Iraqi capital

Two medical officials confirmed the causality figures.  All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media.

Iraq has seen resurgence in violence over the past year.  According to UN figures, 2013 had the highest death toll since the worst of the country's sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007.

The UN said violence killed 8,868 last year.  Al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq has in the past staged spectacular attacks on Iraqi government ministries such as in August 2009, when suicide bombers hit the Finance Ministry and the Foreign Ministry ministries, killing more than 100 people. 

The bombings were quickly claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq, as the group was known at the time.