A car bomb exploded in a busy market in central Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 66, medics in the capital’s two hospitals said.
The attack occurred at about 1pm local time in the Iraqi capital’s Bab al-Sharji market, which is popular for trading food and clothes, security officials said.
Medics in Baghdad’s Al-Kindi and Ibn Nafis hospitals confirmed the toll.
An Agence France-Presse journalist said security forces sealed off the area, which is also close to the Interior Ministry and houses one of Baghdad’s main bus stations.
The Bab al-Sharji market has been a regular target of insurgents, and on Friday it was packed with shoppers on their way home after weekly prayers.
Insurgents have attacked markets across Iraq, particularly in Baghdad, in a bid to inflict maximum casualties.
Last month two bombs hidden in cardboard boxes used to carry animals exploded in the city’s al-Ghazal pet market, killing 13 people.
But in the past few months the number of insurgent attacks, especially bombings, has dropped significantly across the country on the back of a massive United States-Iraqi military sweep. — AFP
