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BAGHDAD - TWO female suicide bombers suspected of being mentally disabled blew themselves up yesterday in separate attacks on pet bazaars in Baghdad, killing at least 68 people and wounding scores, police said.
The attacks were the deadliest in the Iraqi capital since 30,000 more American troops flooded into the centre of the country last spring.
In the first attack, a woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black Islamic robe at 10.20am in the central Al-Ghazl market.
The market has long been a weekly treat for residents of Baghdad, with its array of exotic birds and animals.
It has been bombed several times since the war started but it emerged recently as a popular place to shop and stroll as security improved and a Friday ban on driving was lifted.
Police and hospital officials said at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 were injured.
About 20 minutes later, a second female suicide bomber struck at a bird market in a predominantly Shi'ite area in south-eastern Baghdad. As many as 22 people were killed and 65 people wounded.
The chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brigadier-General Qassim Al-Moussawi, claimed that the female bombers had Down's syndrome and the explosives were detonated by remote control, indicating that they may not have been willing attackers.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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