A car bombing has killed 12 people and wounded dozens more at an outdoor market in a district north of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, according to police sources.
Police said a parked car packed with explosives blew up on Tuesday morning at a vegetable and fruit market in Rashidiyah town.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which wounded at least 37 people.
Baghdad is on high alert for attacks after a series of terror attacks rocked the Iraqi capital. In a blast in the central Karada district on July 3, more than 300 people were killed and ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
This was the deadliest bombing in Iraq since US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.
The bombing in Rashidiyah came as the Iraqi parliament was due on Tuesday to discuss security measures in the capital in the wake of the attack in Karada.
Iraqis blame the government
Many Iraqis blame their political leadership for lapses in security in Baghdad that have allowed large amounts of explosives to make their way past multiple checkpoints and into neighbourhoods packed with civilians.
“All the politicians in Iraq are responsible for these blasts, including Abadi,” a woman in Karada told local media.
“We can’t enjoy the Eid; if it isn’t ISIS, it’s al-Qaeda, and if it isn’t the two, it’s the filthy corrupt politics in this country.
“We are being targeted while they are sitting safe and sound in their palaces. They are the ones who are allowing ISIS to come here and murder people.”
Interior Minister Mohammed Ghabban resigned after the attack in Karada district, and authorities also announced the execution of five convicts and the arrest of 40 fighters in an apparent effort to limit the fallout.
Visiting the blast site in Karada district, Iraqi prime minister Haidar al-Abadi attributed the deadly bombing to the terrorist group’s recent territorial losses.
“The terrorists carried out this bombing… after being crushed at the battle of Fallujah,” he said.
