Bombs kill 50 soccer fans in Baghdad

Two suicide car bombings struck soccer fans in Baghdad as they were celebrating Iraq’s victory in the Asian Cup semi-final today, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100, officials said.

The victims were among the thousands of revellers who took to the streets of the capital after the country’s national soccer team beat South Korea to reach the tournament’s final against Saudi Arabia on Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The first attack took place about 6.30pm when a bomber exploded in a crowd of people cheering near a well-known ice cream parlor in Baghdad’s western neighbourhood of Mansour, according to police and hospital officials.

At least 30 people were killed and 75 were wounded, an Interior Ministry official said.

Another suicide car bomber detonated his payload about 45 minutes later in the midst of dozens of vehicles filled with revellers near an Iraqi army checkpoint in the eastern district of Ghadeer, killing at least 20 people, including two soldiers, and wounding 61, according to the ministry official.