Triple blasts in Iraq capital, at least 10 dead-sources

06 Nov 2011 13:29
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Explosions in busy market in central Baghdad

* Violence in Iraq climbed in October (Adds details, updates toll)

By Kareem Raheem

BAGHDAD, Nov 6 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed when three bomb blasts rocked a busy market in Iraq's capital on Sunday where people were shopping for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, police sources said.

The blasts occurred in Shurja, an important commercial district in central Baghdad where shop owners and vendors sell clothes, electronics, textiles, food and other goods.

"I can see fire and black smoke rising and a large number of fire engines, ambulances and police patrols rushing to the market," a Reuters witness close to Shurja market said.

Police sources said 10 people had been killed in the attack and a source at Baghdad's central morgue said it had received 10 bodies. A source at al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad put the toll at eight killed and 26 wounded.

"The reason behind the fire was sabotage. The perpetrators used gasoline to set ablaze the market," Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Baghdad security operations, said.

Iraqi forces are preparing to take full responsibility for security by year-end when all U.S. troops pull out of the country, nearly nine years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Military leaders have expressed concerns that militants might ramp up attacks as the 33,000 U.S. troops left in Iraq pack up to leave.

Although violence has dropped since the peak of sectarian fighting in 2006-7, bombings and killings occur on a daily basis and a stubborn Sunni insurgency linked to al Qaeda and Shi'ite militias remain capable of carrying out lethal attacks.

The number of civilians killed in violence in Iraq climbed sharply in October following a string of suicide and roadside bombings in Baghdad. Attacks have also increased against Iraq's army and police. (Additional reporting by Muhanad Mohammed; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

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4 explosions, building burnt in mid Baghdad
11/6/2011 3:08 PM

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A civilian was killed and five injured by the explosion of four bombs, while a commercial building was burnt in two incidents, in central Baghdad, security sources said today.
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the four bombs exploded in Shorja, a crowded commercial center.
The burning happened in a commercial building that contained clothes and accessories.
No reasons for the burning have been given up until now.

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At least one killed in bomb explosions in central Baghdad
English.news.cn 2011-11-06 19:28:00 FeedbackPrintRSS

Smoke rises from the site of bomb attacks targeted a marketplace in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Nov. 6, 2011. At least one civilian was killed and four others were wounded in coordinated explosions of four bombs in the crowded wholesale market of al-Arabi in Baghdad's Shorjah area on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said. (Xinhua/Zhang Ning)
BAGHDAD, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least one civilian was killed and four others were wounded in coordinated explosions of four bombs at a marketplace in downtown Baghdad on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said.

Four bombs went off after midday in a quick succession in the crowded wholesale market of al-Arabi in Baghdad's Shorjah area, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene as ambulances and civilian cars were evacuating the victims to the city hospitals, the source said.

The blasts came as Sunni Muslims are marking the four-day annual festival of al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice, while the Shiite community are to observe the festival on Monday.

Violence in Iraq has ebbed from its climax in 2006 and 2007 when sectarian conflicts pushed the country to the brink of civil war, but daily shootings and bombings still occur across the country.