Baghdad blast toll rises to 68

Iraqi police said on Friday 68 people were killed in co-ordinated bombings blamed on al-Qaeda in a packed shopping area in central Baghdad yesterday, making it the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital for nine months. The incident was the single bloodiest attack in Baghdad since last June.

The streets were packed at the time of Thursday's blasts with vendors selling goods on sidewalks and residents shopping at the start of the Muslim weekend.

Iraqi and US officials said a roadside bomb exploded first. Minutes later, as Iraqi security forces and locals gathered to tend to the casualties, there was a second, larger blast. Women and children were among the casualties, injuring a further 120 people. Police and the US military said they believed the second explosion was caused by a suicide bomber.

Last month, two women killed 99 people when they detonated explosives in packed pet markets, with 62 dying in the deadlier of the two bombings. - Reuters