Baghdad, Iraq: Iraq's years-old nightly curfew was raised on Sunday in a bid by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to ease restrictions on daily life despite persistent violence plaguing the country, AFP reported.

Doing away with the curfew -- which most recently was in effect from midnight to 5:00am -- ends a longstanding policy aimed at curbing violence in the capital by limiting movement at night.

The curfew, in place since the aftermath of the US-led invasion of 2003, did little to curb the deadly bombings that plague the capital, which are carried out during the day or early evening with the aim of causing maximum casualties.

The hours the curfew has been in force have varied over the years, and it has been lifted completely before only to be reinstated again.

Five blasts across Baghdad on Saturday tempered Iraqis' anticipation of a more relaxed and accessible capital as the government prepared to lift a night-time curfew that has kept the city on a war-time footing for more than a decade.

Bombs are reminder of country at war

At least 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the explosions, security and medical sources said, and dozens of others were wounded, Reuters reported.

The attacks included a suicide bombing at a restaurant in a Shi'ite neighbourhood and improvised explosives devices planted in a bustling central market district, underscoring the peril ordinary people still face from militant violence in Baghdad.

Bombings have waned and waxed for nearly 12 years, but they have not ceased since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The decision to lift the curfew comes as Iraqi forces battle to regain ground from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which spearheaded an offensive that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad last June.

Abadi ordered the move this week, a decision his office said was taken so there would ‘be normal life as much as possible, despite the existence of a state of war’.

Still cautious

The curfew has become a fact of life in Baghdad, as have the towering grey blast walls around many buildings and checkpoints that have curtailed commercial and civilian movement, Reuters reported.

Residents often complain of having to wait in long lines of traffic at checkpoints on major roads and at the entrances to many neighbourhoods, while politicians' convoys speed through the city with armed guards.

Last week's decisions mean heavy weapons will be banned from specified districts and some checkpoints closed.

Residents awaited the end of the curfew on Saturday evening with a mixture of anticipation and fear.

The bombings earlier in the day and in recent weeks reinforced fears among some that the end of the curfew would spark more attacks.