Baghdad car bomb kills 22

A car bomb exploded today at an outdoor market in a Shiite area of southwestern Baghdad, killing 22 people and injuring 28, police said.

Lt. Mohammed Khayoun said the car was parked along a street about 30 yards from a police checkpoint in a Shiite part of the mostly Sunni neighbourhood of Dora.

The blast left several cars burning and some nearby stores ablaze.

Another police officer, Major General Mahdi al-Gharawi, said the bomb was detonated by remote control and an Iraqi suspected of triggering the device had been arrested.

Police 1st Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razaq said the explosion was apparently aimed at a police patrol but missed its target.

The injured were taken to hospital, said Abdul-Razaq, who arrived at the scene shortly after the bomb went off at 4.45pm local time (1.45pm Irish time).

Dora is among the most dangerous neighbourhoods in Baghdad, where car bombings and roadside bombs have been a daily occurrence since a Sunni-dominated insurgency began in the summer of 2003.