baghdad:
At least 34 people were killed in three bombings around Baghdad today, police said, hours before the government was due to lift a long standing night time curfew on the capital.
At least 50 people were wounded in the blasts, the officials said.
In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a restaurant in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of New Baghdad, leaving 22 dead, police told Reuters.
In the second attack, two bombs ripped through the bustling Sharqa market district, killing 10 people.
In a third attack, a bomb killed two and wounded another seven in the Shi'ite section of Abu Sheir in Baghdad's Dura neighborhood, police said.
The interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said he did not believe the blasts were linked to the decision to lift the curfew.
The Iraqi government announced on Thursday that the decade old curfew in the capital would end at midnight and that four neighbourhoods would be "demilitarised".
The moves are part of a campaign to normalise life in Iraq's war blighted capital and to persuade residents that Baghdad no longer faces a threat from Islamic State, the militant group which seized large areas of northern and western Iraq last year.
Some form of curfew has been in place since the US led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, hindering commercial and civilian movement. The midnight to 5 am, local time, curfew has been in place for more than seven years.
© Thomson Reuters 2015
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Secret Service Head To Testify To US House Panel On Trump Shooting Florida Man Arrested For Making Threats Against Biden Joe Biden Tests Positive For Covid As Age Worries Mount World's Largest Isolated Tribe Makes Rare Appearance In New Footage Barack Obama Wants Joe Biden To Pull Out Of US Presidential Race: Report 32 Dead In Bangladesh Unrest, Protesters Set Fire To State TV Headquarters Delhi Hospital Shooting: 3 Arrested, Juvenile Was "Main Shooter": Cops NEET PG 2024: Test Cities Out For Postgraduate Medical Entrance Exam After 53 Years, Mortar Shells From 1971 Indo-Pak War Found In Fish Pond Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.