At Least 36 Dead in Baghdad Suicide Bombing
At least 36 people were killed and 70 more were wounded as explosions ripped through three Baghdad neighborhoods on Saturday, the New York Times reports. At least 62 people have been killed in the city in the last 10 days.
Police told Reuters that, in the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a restaurant in the Shi'ite neighborhood of New Baghdad, killing at least 22. Then, Reuters reports, two bombs were detonated in the Sharqa market district, killing at least 10. Finally, a bomb was detonated in a Shi'ite section of the Dura neighborhood, killing at least two.
The attack took place hours before the government had planned to lift Baghdad's nighttime curfew, in place for most of the past 12 years, as a result of what officials said was improved security, the Times reports. Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan told Reuters that he did not believe the attacks were related to the effort to "demilitarize" the city.