Female suicide bombers, detonated by remote control, killed 72 people in attacks blamed on al Qaeda at two popular Baghdad pet markets today, the Iraqi capital's worst bombings in six months.
Police said a female suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded 82 at the Ghazil pet market in central Baghdad. Another blast 10 minutes earlier killed 27 people and wounded 67 at a bird market in southern Baghdad, police said.
The US military, which gave a lower death toll, said both attacks were caused by female suicide bombers and blamed al Qaeda. An Iraqi military official said the two women were mentally retarded and the bombs detonated by remote control.
"By targeting innocent Iraqis they show their true demonic character," Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Stover, a spokesman for US troops in Baghdad, said in a statement.
While attacks have fallen across Iraq in recent months, the blasts underscore US military warnings that Sunni Islamist al Qaeda remains dangerous and a return to violence that took Iraq to the brink of sectarian civil war is still possible.
At the Ghazil market, one of Baghdad's most popular gathering places, people stared at the destruction as workers swept up body parts and blood-stained animal boxes.
"I came here to enjoy myself. I don't know how I survived," said witness Abu Haider, who was covered in blood as he stood among ruined stalls and carcasses of birds and other animals.
"I was right there at the scene when the blast happened. It knocked me over. When I managed to get up, I saw dozens had been killed and wounded," he said.
The explosion occurred close to the spot of a bombing that killed 13 people on November 23rd. Police piled the wounded into wheelbarrows, cars and the back of pick-up trucks while US soldiers helped secure the area, witnesses said.
Violence has fallen sharply across Iraq, however, with the number of attacks down 60 per cent since last June.
The declining violence has been attributed to 30,000 extra US troops, which became fully deployed last June, and the growth of primarily Sunni Arab local police units.
Agencies