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Deadly bombings hit Baghdad

February 7, 2015

Two bombings in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have killed and wounded dozens of people. The attacks come just hours before a years-old curfew was to be lifted.

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Iraqi police clear pedestrians off a street after a suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a restaurant in Baghdad al-Jadida, east of the capital, on February 7, 2015. SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images
Image: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images

In the deadliest of a pair of attacks on Saturday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the Shiite neighborhood of New Baghdad, killing some 14 people and wounding at least 38, according to police officials.

Shortly afterwards, two improvised explosive devices positioned 25 meters (27 yards) apart at the Iraqi capital's popular Shorja market went off, killing at least 11 people and wounding at least 26, according to police.

No person or group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suicide bombings are mostly carried out by Sunni extremists in Iraq, including the jihadist group "Islamic State," which has taken over large areas to the north and west of the capital.

The bombings came just hours before Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was due to lift Iraq's longtime curfew as of midnight on Saturday.

Al-Abadi decided last week bring the curfew to an end, with his office saying that the move would allow there to "be normal life as much as possible, despite the existence of a state of war."

Baghdad has remained relatively calm in recent months despite the fighting taking place between Iraqi forces and the jihadist extremists, although there have still been some bombings targeting Shiite-majority areas in the city.

tj/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)