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Bomb attack on a market in Baghdad
Photo: Khalid Mohammed / dpa
Several people were killed in an explosion in a busy market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The AFP news agency even spoke of at least 21 dead with reference to medical circles, and 33 other people were injured.
It is to be feared that the death toll will continue to rise.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry announced that it was a "terrorist attack" with a self-made explosive charge.
At the time of the explosion in the predominantly Shiite suburb of Sadr City, numerous people crowded the market to buy food for the upcoming Islamic festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha.
As a source from the Interior Ministry told the news agency, four women and four children were apparently among the fatalities.
Video recordings in the online networks showed people covered in blood.
Some screamed in fear.
Initially, no group confessed to the alleged attack.
Violence in Baghdad had decreased in recent years.
Most recently, 32 people were killed in an explosion in a market in Baghdad in January, when the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iraq declared ISIS defeated at the end of 2017 after bitter fighting.
However, individual groups continue to operate in desert and mountain regions.
Their target is usually Iraqi security forces or state infrastructure.
mjm / AFP
