Two car bombs exploded in Baghdad, Iraq at 12:20 on 12 February 2007 in the Shorja market district, killing 76 people, and injuring 155–180.[1][2]
The explosions set market stalls, shops, and an adjoining 7-storey building on fire, causing further casualties, and local fire-crews struggled for hours to extinguish the flames.[3] The collapse of a building was also reported. The injured were taken to the nearby Al-Kindi hospital, which struggled to cope with the influx, and more casualties are expected from injuries.[4]
Al-Askari anniversary
The bombings happened during 15 minutes of state endorsed silence, to mark the anniversary[5] of the Al-Askari Mosque bombing in Samarra, which prompted heavy bloodshed. The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was participating in a televised ceremony remembering the victims of the attack, and was speaking when the blasts occurred, only two miles away.[6] Al-Maliki had been calling for calm, unity and reconciliation,[7] and had said that the Iraqi Security Forces were regaining control of Iraq's security situation.
