One bomb exploded in a public square and then a second blast went off nearby as an army patrol arrived in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya in the north of Baghdad, security officials said.

“Two roadside bombs exploded one after the other,” Maj. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad security operations said. “Five people were killed, two army officers and three soldiers.”

Three other soldiers and eight civilians were also wounded in the attack, a hospital official said.

Insurgents often use one explosion to draw security forces before detonating secondary blasts to target them.

Attacks and bombings have fallen sharply since the height of Iraq’s sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007, but militants tied to Al-Qaeda, and other militias still carry out almost daily bombings and assassinations.

Assaults are increasingly targeting local security forces and government offices aiming to undermine faith in the Iraqi government just as Baghdad discusses with Washington whether some American troops should stay on after a 2011 deadline for them to withdraw.

More than eight years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, Iraqi security forces say they are able to contain internal threats. But Baghdad is in talks with Washington over whether some US troops should stay on as trainers.