Evening blasts in northern Baghdad neighbourhood kill 19 people

BAGHDAD – Iraqi authorities say bombings targeting a commercial street and a market have killed 19 people in the same neighbourhood northern Baghdad.

Police officials say the first attack happened Thursday night when a car bomb exploded in a commercial street in Baghdad’s northern neighbourhood of Azamiyah, killing 12 people and wounding 28.

Another bomb exploded minutes later near a market in the neighbourhood, killing seven and wounding 27.

Medics confirmed the casualties for both attacks. All officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Violence has escalated in Iraq over the past year. Last year, the country saw its highest death toll since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007.