16 killed, 39 hurt in Baghdad bomb attacks
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Baghdad: The death toll from two bomb explosions Friday at a busy mall in Baghdad rose to 16, a police source said on Saturday.
"Our latest report said 16 people were killed and 39 others wounded in the two suicide bomb explosions of al-Nakhil Mall in eastern Baghdad," Xinhua quoted the source as saying on condition of anonymity.
The attack occurred shortly before Friday midnight when a booby-trapped car detonated at the car park of al-Nakhil Mall in Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, while a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at the busy street outside the mall building.
The blasts set fire to several nearby cars at the parking lot and outside the mall and damaged many others, the source said.
Iraqi security forces sealed off the area and blocked the roads leading to the scene, while ambulances and police vehicles evacuated the killed and wounded people to the city hospitals, the source added.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, in most cases, is responsible for the suicide attacks, targeting areas where crowds of people gather, including markets, cafes and mosques across Iraq.
