Twin suicide bombings target Iraqi capital Baghdad
Two bombers blow themselves up in the mainly Shia districts of Kadhimiya and Hurriya, killing at least 24 people.
Two suicide bombers, one of them driving an explosives-laden vehicle, have blown themselves up in northwestern Baghdad, killing at least 24 people, police said.
The attacks, which took place at around 14:30 GMT on Saturday, targeted the mainly Shia districts of Kadhimiya and Hurriya in the north of the Iraqi capital. Police said at least 60 people were wounded.
The attack in Kadhimiya, which is on Adan Square, took place in one of the main access points for the Shia shrine there, which attracts many visitors on Saturdays.
“The first explosion was a suicide car bomb and then there was a bomber with a suicide vest,” a police colonel said.
Adan Square has been repeatedly hit by attacks. More than 20 people died in a suicide bombing there in February.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for both attacks.
Baghdad and other large cities have seen near-daily attacks, with roadside bombs, suicide blasts, and assassinations targeting Iraqi forces and government officials. Attacks have inflicted significant casualties among the civilian population.
The violence has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands of Iraqis.
Iraq is going through its worst security crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of US troops, as large parts of its northwestern regions are under the control of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Iraqi forces are engaged in battle to win back areas controlled by the ISIL. An aerial campaign led by the US and the regional powers has failed to dislodge the rebels, who control large swaths of Iraq and Syria.