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Police: 4 killed in bombing at Baghdad market

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-01 16:27

BAGHDAD -- A bomb exploded Monday at a wholesale produce market in southern Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 14, Iraqi police officials said.

The blast occurred shortly before 8 am at the Rasheed market in Baghdad's southern Dora neighborhood, the same market that was the scene of a car bombing last month that killed 15 people and wounded nearly 50.

A resident inspects the site of a bomb attack in a wholesale vegetable market in Baghdad June 1, 2009. [Agencies]

Sectarian tensions remain high in Dora, a mostly Sunni district with some Shiite enclaves. Its wholesale market has been a repeated target of insurgents over the years, partly because of its popularity.

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Despite the drop in violence in Iraq, sporadic high-profile attacks with large casualty counts continue to plague the country.

An Iraq police official said the bomb was planted near the front gate of the market, and exploded as trucks carrying fruits and vegetables were waiting to enter with their goods. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information to the media.

Fruits and vegetables were scattered amid burning vehicles near the gate.

Falah Amer al-Jubouri, the owner of a shop inside the market, said he was bargaining with wholesale sellers about prices when the blast went off.

"I heard a big explosion, followed by a ball of fire and smoke billowing up," he said. "Everyone rushed outside to see burning cars with dead and wounded people trapped inside them."

Al-Jubouri said people at the market rushed to put out the fires and help the wounded before Iraqi firefighters and ambulances arrived.

Witnesses also said there were no Iraqi or US forces present at the time of the explosion.

In last month's attack, the car bomb went off also near the entrance of the market. A second car bomb was found later in the area and defused.

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