Baghdad: A triple car bombing struck a food market in a predominantly Shiite area in central Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 51 people a day after a US-Iraqi raid against Sunni insurgents in a nearby neighbourhood.
Three parked cars blew up nearly simultaneously as shoppers were buying fruit, vegetables, meat and other items for dinner in the busy al-Sadriyah district.
The blast sent huge clouds of black smoke over concrete high-rises in the area, which has narrow alleys that made it difficult for ambulances and fire trucks to reach the scene.
At least 51 people were killed and 90 wounded, according to police Lt Mohammed Khayoun and hospital officials.
Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but it followed a raid by Iraqi forces backed by US helicopters on Saturday targeting Sunni insurgents in al-Fadhil, less than a kilometer away.
A bombing and mortar attack also killed 215 people and wounded more than 200 in the Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad on November 23 as sectarian tensions increase.
The Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq condemned the al-Fadhil raid in a statement today, alleging that six people were killed and 13 detained in the operation.
Iraqi police said yesterday that one Iraqi soldier and two civilians were killed in the fighting, while the US military said 28 people were detained in an operation aimed at capturing insurgents.
Violence also occurred north and south of the capital on Sunday.
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