Suicide blast kills 43 people at pet market in Baghdad

Published on Friday 1 February 2008 12:33

AT least 43 people were killed when a female suicide bomber blew herself up at the main pet market in central Baghdad today.

Seventy-eight people were wounded in the deadliest bombing to strike the capital since 30,000 more American forces flooded into central Iraq last spring.

About 20 minutes later a second bomb tore through another bird market in a predominantly Shia area in south-eastern Baghdad. That blast killed at least eight people and wounded 14, police said.

The attacks happened shortly before the weekly Islamic call to prayer resounded across the capital and were the latest in a series of violent incidents that have been chipping away at Iraqi confidence in the permanence of recent security gains.

The first blast happened at about 10.20am when the woman detonated explosives hidden under her traditional black robe at the al-Ghazl market.

Firefighters scooped up debris scattered among pools of blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.

Police initially said the bomb was hidden in a box of birds but later determined it was a suicide attack after finding the woman's head, an officer said.