Iraq hit by series of fatal bombings

Fifteen killed as five explosions hit village of al-Zaidan and central Baghdad

A series of bomb blasts in central Iraq have killed 15 people, police officials said.

Two devices exploded at a meeting place for labourers in the mostly Sunni village of al-Zaidan, near the town of Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad.

The explosions killed seven people and wounded 11 others, the officials said.

Street vendors and shoppers also appear to have been targeted in an attack in central Baghdad just hours later.

A further three bombs went off near stalls selling CDs and military uniforms in the city's Bab al-Sharqi market district, killing eight people and wounding 19 others.

"Three bombs exploded one after the other. I saw a woman, who was serving tea to customers, lose a leg in one of the explosions," said a young vendor selling clothes near the site of the Bab al-Sharqi blast.

Health officials at Abu Ghraib's general hospital and at three hospitals in Baghdad confirmed the casualty figures.

Bab al-Sharqi, which is a predominantly Shia district, had until recently been surrounded by protective blast walls, which were removed as a consequence of the improved security situation in the country, said Qassim al-Moussawi, the military spokesman for Baghdad.

The bombers "try to prove their presence and hinder our efforts to remove all the concrete walls, but we will continue removing them and keeping control," he said.


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