Suicide blasts rock Baghdad hours before years-old curfew lifted

Dozens of people have been killed in a series of bomb attacks in Baghdad on Saturday, hours before the night curfew on the capital city was due to lifted for the first time in eight years.

At least 22 people were killed in the Jadida area, as a suicide bomber targeted a street filled with hardware stores.

A police source told the Anadolou Agency: “A suicide attacker detonated his explosives belt at a local restaurant in New Baghdad district in eastern Baghdad.”

At least 39 others were also injured in the attack, which was the deadliest to hit the capital in months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

A few hours later, Baghdad's central Shorja market, was rocked by two bombs which were placed 25 metres from each other. Eleven people were killed and 26 wounded. 

Another bombing hit a commercial area in central Baghdad, killing at least five and wounding 13.

Saturday’s attacks illustrate the persistent danger of violence in Baghdad, even as the nightly curfew was set to end at midnight (21.00 GMT) in the city.

Lifting the curfew is a major change to a longstanding policy aimed at curbing violence in the capital by limiting movement at night, although even this security measure has failed to stop frequent bombings.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the move earlier this week, a decision his office said was taken so there would be “normal life as much as possible, despite the existence of a state of war”. There has as yet been no official response from the authorities on the blast.