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Baghdad market bomb 'kills 121' | Baghdad market bomb 'kills 121' |
(40 minutes later) | |
At least 121 people have been killed and 226 injured in a lorry bombing at a market place in central Baghdad, Iraqi security officials have said. | At least 121 people have been killed and 226 injured in a lorry bombing at a market place in central Baghdad, Iraqi security officials have said. |
Police say the truck blew up in the al-Sadriya district as people bought food ahead of a night-time curfew. | Police say the truck blew up in the al-Sadriya district as people bought food ahead of a night-time curfew. |
It shattered stalls and left a huge crater in the street, in the heavily populated, predominantly Shia area. | It shattered stalls and left a huge crater in the street, in the heavily populated, predominantly Shia area. |
Only the Sadr City bombings in November, which killed more than 200 people, have claimed more lives. | Only the Sadr City bombings in November, which killed more than 200 people, have claimed more lives. |
Regular targets | |
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki blamed loyalists of the executed former leader Saddam Hussein for the al-Sadriya attack. | |
"The Iraqi people and the world is shocked by this... The Saddamists have returned to commit a new crime," he said. | |
Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani In pictures: Iraq violence | Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani In pictures: Iraq violence |
"We reassure the population that we will put an end to these crimes." | |
Rescuers pulled the dead and injured from the rubble of the blast and loaded them on to pick-up trucks to be ferried to hospital. | |
Wards and corridors overflowed at the nearby Ibn al-Nafis hospital, with relatives screaming for help for their loved ones. | Wards and corridors overflowed at the nearby Ibn al-Nafis hospital, with relatives screaming for help for their loved ones. |
One injured man at Ibn al-Nafis told Reuters news agency: "I was in my shop and there was a great explosion and the roof fell in on me. I woke up here in hospital." | One injured man at Ibn al-Nafis told Reuters news agency: "I was in my shop and there was a great explosion and the roof fell in on me. I woke up here in hospital." |
Markets have become a regular target for bombers over recent months. | |
An attack on the Haraj market in Baghdad on 22 January killed 88 people. | |
BBC world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge says the attacks on markets are widely seen as militant groups deliberately stepping up their activities before a new joint Iraqi-US security operation for Baghdad gets under way. | BBC world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge says the attacks on markets are widely seen as militant groups deliberately stepping up their activities before a new joint Iraqi-US security operation for Baghdad gets under way. |
The US is to deploy an extra 21,500 troops. | The US is to deploy an extra 21,500 troops. |
Kirkuk attacks | Kirkuk attacks |
On Saturday, Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a new appeal to all Iraqis. | On Saturday, Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a new appeal to all Iraqis. |
"Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension to avoid stirring sectarian differences," he said. | "Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension to avoid stirring sectarian differences," he said. |
Seven bombs also went off in Kirkuk in the north | Seven bombs also went off in Kirkuk in the north |
Earlier, seven car bombs in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk killed five people and injured 40. | Earlier, seven car bombs in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk killed five people and injured 40. |
Two of the bombs targeted the headquarters of two Kurdish parties - the Kurdish Democratic Party led by of Massoud Barzani, head of the northern Kurdish region, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani. | Two of the bombs targeted the headquarters of two Kurdish parties - the Kurdish Democratic Party led by of Massoud Barzani, head of the northern Kurdish region, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani. |
Razqar Ali, a Kurdish leader and head of Kirkuk provincial council, accused militants of trying to destabilise the city amid efforts by some Kurds to include it in the autonomous Kurdish region. | Razqar Ali, a Kurdish leader and head of Kirkuk provincial council, accused militants of trying to destabilise the city amid efforts by some Kurds to include it in the autonomous Kurdish region. |
A curfew was imposed after the blasts and would run from 1600 (1300 GMT) to 0600 on Sunday, AFP news agency said. | A curfew was imposed after the blasts and would run from 1600 (1300 GMT) to 0600 on Sunday, AFP news agency said. |
Earlier, police said gunmen attacked a checkpoint near Samarra, killing six police and injuring another six. | Earlier, police said gunmen attacked a checkpoint near Samarra, killing six police and injuring another six. |
Samarra is a mainly Sunni town 125km (80 miles) north of Baghdad where an attack on an important Shia shrine last February sparked Iraq's current sectarian violence. | Samarra is a mainly Sunni town 125km (80 miles) north of Baghdad where an attack on an important Shia shrine last February sparked Iraq's current sectarian violence. |