Civilian killed, 29 wounded in Baghdad explosions

A civilian was killed and 29 others wounded in coordinated explosions of four bombs at a marketplace in downtown Baghdad on Sunday, an Interior Ministry source said. "The latest reports said that a civilian was killed and 15 wounded by the blasts on Shorjah commercial area," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Four bombs planted in different parts of the crowded wholesale market of al-Arabi in Baghdad's Shorjah area detonated after midday in a quick succession, the source said. The blasts destroyed several shops and stalls, and set fire to parts of the market, including a commercial building, while a thick column of black smoke rose above the area, the source added. Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene as ambulances and civilian cars were evacuating the victims to the city hospitals while fire engines were rushing to the area, the source said. The blasts came as Sunni Muslims are marking the four-day annual festival of al-Adha, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice, while the Shiite community is to observe the festival on Monday. Violence in Iraq has ebbed from its climax in 2006 and 2007 when sectarian conflicts pushed the country to the brink of civil war, but daily shootings and bombings still occur across the country.