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IRAQ-CONFLICT
Child among three killed in Baghdad blast: source
BAGHDAD, Aug 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Three people were killed Tuesday in an
explosion at a market in Baghdad, including a woman and child according to a
security source.
The blast struck in the Shiite bastion of Sadr City, a sprawling district
where authorities regularly carry out raids close to the busy market to seize
illegal weapons.
“Three people were killed and four others injured in an explosion in a
covered market near the Mreydi souk in Sadr City,” Baghdad’s military
operations command said in a statement.
A source from the security services told AFP that a woman and a child were
among those killed.
Authorities did not detail the cause of the blast and said an
investigation would be launched.
The Mreydi souk is an important hub for illegal weapons sales and the area
has seen years of violence since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In June, at least 16 people were killed and some 30 injured in an
explosion at a house in the area where weapons were stored.
Sadr City is the former bastion of the Mahdi Army, which before being
dissolved was blamed by Washington for killing US soldiers and thousands of
Sunni Muslims.
The militia was led by Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose political
alliance triumphed in this year’s parliamentary elections.
Violence has fallen in Iraq and particularly Baghdad, which suffered
numerous jihadist attacks, since the government declared victory over the
Islamic State group in December.
But despite government forces retaking all of Iraq’s towns and cities from
IS, clandestine jihadist cells remain present, analysts say.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1722 hrs