At least 28 Iraqis killed and
dozens wounded as blasts triggered
by suicide bombers hit crowd during morning rush.
At least 28 people were killed and 54 others wounded
as two bombs exploded in the centre of Baghdad,
according to police and medical officials.
The blasts, triggered by two suicide bombers, went
off on Saturday near car spare parts shops in Al Sinak
during the morning rush, police said.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement
posted on its Amaq website.
The first blast took place at the market's entrance and the second was inside the area, police said.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
The bombing was carried out by two suicide bombers
wearing explosive belts, according to Saad Maan, the spokesman for the government security agency.
"Many of the victims were people from the spare parts
shops in the area, they were gathered near a cart selling breakfast when the explosions went off," said Ibrahim Mohammed Ali, who owns a nearby shop.
Torn clothes and mangled iron were strewn across the
ground in pools of blood at the site of the wreckage
near Rasheed street, one of the main thoroughfares in Baghdad, an AFP news agency photographer said.
The market was struck during the early |
morning rush |
In a separate incident, security forces said on Saturday
that they had foiled a suicide car bombing targeting the mostly Shia district of Kadhimiyah in northern Baghdad.
"Acting on intelligence information, Iraqi forces in
northern Baghdad tracked down a car bomb with two
suicide bombers, who planned to detonate it in
Kadhimiyah," the Baghdad Security Operations said in a statement.
"The forces ambushed the car, blew it up and killed
the two bombers inside," the security forces said.
Baghdad has been on high alert since October 17, the
start of Iraq's largest military operation in years to retake ISIL's stronghold of Mosul in the country's north.
ISIL, also known as ISIS, took Mosul in 2014, and has
launched several attacks in Baghdad in recent months.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had vowed earlier
in 2016 that his forces would rid the country of ISIL by
the
end of the year, but the Mosul operation has been slower moving than expected.
This week he told a televised news conference that Iraqi forces would now require at least another three months.
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