52 dead after bomb blasts hit Baghdad

Published on 22/01/2007 13:54

AT least 52 people were killed and 72 wounded today when two bombs exploded in a Baghdad market.

The first blast happened shortly after noon when a bomb left in a bag placed among the stalls of vendors peddling DVDs and second-hand clothes exploded.

It was followed almost immediately by a parked car bomb just feet away.

The blasts happened in the predominantly Shia Bab al-Sharqi area between Tayaran and Tahrir squares - one of the busiest parts of Baghdad. Iraqi police sealed off the area as ambulances evacuated the victims.

• A soldier based at Edinburgh's Redford Barracks has become the 130th British serviceman to die in Iraq. He was killed when a roadside bomb struck his patrol vehicle in Basra yesterday.