Five killed in Iraqi market bombing

Bombs ripped through crowds of Iraqi shoppers stocking up on sweets and other delicacies ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, killing at least five people, police said today.

The carnage in the Shurja wholesale market, Baghdad’s oldest and largest, marked the second time in as many days that open-air bazaars have been targeted, the latest attacks in a surge of violence over the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ends on Sunday for Sunnis.