29 killed as Iraq car bombs target Friday markets
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Buy SPH photosBAGHDAD (AFP) - A spate of car bombs in Shiite areas of Iraq, including two blasts minutes apart at a popular bird market, killed at least 29 people on Friday, the latest in a spike in violence amid a political crisis.
The attacks, which left nearly 70 others wounded, primarily targeted marketplaces that are often crowded on Fridays, the weekly holiday in Iraq, and took the death toll from a week of violence to more than 100.
Twin explosions that struck at a bird market in the north Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiyah, site of the shrine of a revered figure in Shiite Islam, killed at least 16 people and wounded 43 others, security and medical officials said.
The two car bombs were set off just after 9:00 am (0600 GMT) in the market, which is typically packed with people on a Friday.
