BAGHDAD, Feb 1: Powerful blasts triggered by female suicide attackers ripped through two Baghdad pet markets on Friday, killing at least 72 people in the most lethal bombings in the Iraqi capital in six months.

The apparently coordinated attacks 20 minutes apart were orchestrated by Al Qaeda, the US military said.

Maj-Gen Qasim Ata, spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, told state television both suicide attacks were carried out by women and that “one was not an Iraqi”. Interior and defence officials put the toll at 64 killed and 107 wounded, while President Jalal Talabani said as many as 70 had died in “brutal attacks carried out by terrorists”.

Police said the first bomb struck the popular Al-Ghazl pet market in central Baghdad at around 10am. The second bombing rocked a pet market in southeastern Baghdad.—Agencies