Iraq: 23 Killed, Dozens Wounded As Bombs Went Off In Baghdad Market

market bombing Iraq

At least 23 people were killed and dozens injured, as bombs tipped through outdoor markets in and near Baghdad on Thursday, the latest in a deadly wave that has hit Iraq in recent months, officials said.

Three bombs went off simultaneously in the Shiite village of Sabaa Al Bour, about 30 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital. Police said the explosions – two at the market entrance and one inside the shopping area – went off as the place was packed with shoppers, killing 16 people and wounding 41 there.

Three women and two children were among those killed in the village market, according to police and hospital officials. Several shops and cars were damaged in the blast.

The attack came shortly after a bomb blast hit the Al Athorien market in Baghdad’s southern neighbourhood of Dora, where seven people, including two women, were killed, and 17 people were wounded, according to Police.

Insurgents in Iraq often target crowded places such as markets, cafes and mosques in order to inflict huge casualties. More than 4,000 people have been killed in violence during the past few months.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but they bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda’s local branch in Iraq, known as the Islamic State of Iraq.

Al Qaeda is believed to be trying to build on the Sunni minority’s discontent toward what they consider to be second-class treatment by Iraq’s Shiite-led government.