BAGHDAD - A bomb hidden in a box of birds killed 13 people and wounded 57 at a popular pet market in central Baghdad on Friday, police and witnesses said, describing the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in two months.
Body parts were strewn across the ground as bystanders piled victims into carts and rushed them to ambulances.
Police said four policemen were among the wounded in the bombing at the Ghazil pet market.
Other police sources said there were reports of a car bomb near a major Baghdad hospital but no other details were immediately available.
The market attack was the worst since 32 people were killed by twin car bombs in the predominantly Shi'ite district of Bayaa in south-western Baghdad on September 26 and could dent new-found confidence among Iraqis that security is getting better.
Levels of violence have fallen across Iraq in recent months, with the U.S. military saying attacks were down by 55 percent since an extra 30,000 U.S. troops became fully deployed in mid-June.
Something approaching normal life has been starting to return to Baghdad with the lull in bloodshed. Thousands of Iraqis have also been returning home after fleeing the violence.
Iraqis have been going to markets and to restaurants at night, both unheard of at the height of the violence after the bombing of a revered Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 unleashed waves of sectarian killings.
"The people were happy the last two weeks because the situation has improved. This explosion disturbs us," said Ghazil stallholder Salim.
The pet market, a popular weekend spectacle, sells a colourful range of creatures from guard dogs and monkeys to parrots, pigeons and tropical fish.
