5 Shia Muslims Martyred in Baghdad Market Blast

At least five Shia people have been martyred after three roadside bombs ripped through a busy outdoor market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad at yesterday.
 At least five Shia people have been martyred after three roadside bombs ripped through a busy outdoor market in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad at yesterday.

Dozens of others were also wounded in the early morning blasts targeting a pet market in in Hussainiya area, northeast Baghdad, on Friday.

“The three bombs exploded almost at the same time. After I heard one of the explosions, I found myself in hospital with shrapnel in my hands, legs and head,” said Ahmed Kareem at Sadr City General Hospital.

The attack came hours after a bomb attack at a restaurant in southeast Baghdad killed five people.

Nearly 100 people were killed by bomb attacks at two other pet markets in Baghdad in 2008.

There has been a rise in violence in Iraq since US troops left the country in December, 2011, leaving hundreds of Iraqis, among them police and security personnel, dead.

It is widely believed that the increasing attacks are part of an anti-Iraq plot to show that the Baghdad government is incapable of protecting Iraqis.