An unknown Syrian group claimed the bombing that killed 62 Iraqis and wounded 114 in a popular market in the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City on Saturday. A message posted on the organization's website declared that the attack was meant to exact "revenge" on the Shi'ites, Israel Radio reported. News footage showed a huge plume of gray smoke rising from the scene and flames shooting through the windows of several scorched cars.
The explosion, which occurred at 10:00 a.m., also devastated several shops in the sprawling district in eastern Baghdad, police Col. Hassan Jaloob said. He said 45 people were killed and 41 were wounded, while 14 vehicles and 22 shops and stalls were destroyed. A spokesman for the Imam Ali Hospital in Sadr City, Said Rasoul Zaboun, said earlier that at least 35 people were killed and 46 wounded. |