Suicide bomb strikes Shia-majority area in Baghdad
At least 14 people killed and 43 wounded in a bomb attack in a square in Kadhimiyah in the north of the Iraqi capital.
A suicide bomber has attacked a Shia-majority area of north Baghdad, killing at least 14 people, security and medical officials have said.
The blast in Kadhimiyah, home to a Shia shrine, also wounded at least 43 people.
The bomber struck near vendors selling goods on the pavement in the district’s crowded Aden Square, the AFP new agency reported.
It is the second suicide bombing to hit the Iraqi capital in three days. On Saturday, an attack inside a restaurant in the Jadida area killed at least 23 people.
A roadside bomb also exploded in a commercial district in the Shia-majority Husseiniyah area near Baghdad on Monday, killing one person and wounding at least seven.
Fighters often target crowded places like restaurants, squares and markets to maximise casualties.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack, but suicide bombings are a tactic almost exclusively employed by Sunni fighters in Iraq, including fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL).
ISIL spearheaded an offensive that swept through large areas of the country last June, threatening the capital, and Iraqi forces are battling to regain ground with support from US-led air strikes.
The attacks come after a year-old curfew was lifted on Sunday.