BAGHDAD, Dec 28: A car bomb exploded in a busy market in central Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 14 people and wounding 64, a security official said.

The attack occurred at around 1:00 pm (1000 GMT) in the Iraqi capital’s Bab al-Sharji market which is popular for trading food and clothes, he said.

Medics in Baghdad’s Al-Kindi and Ibn Nafis hospitals confirmed the toll.

A journalist said security forces sealed off the area, which is also close to the interior ministry and one of Baghdad’s main bus stations.

The Bab al-Sharji market has been a regular target of insurgents, and on Friday it was packed with shoppers on their way home after weekly prayers.

Insurgents have attacked markets across Iraq, particularly in Baghdad, in a bid to inflict maximum casualties.

Last month two bombs hidden in cardboard boxes used to carry animals exploded in the city’s Al-Ghazal pet market, killing 13 people.

But in the past few months the number of insurgent attacks, especially bombings, has dropped significantly across the country on the back of a massive US-Iraqi military sweep.

In another incident, one civilian was killed when a mortar hit a bus in Baghdad, a security official said, adding that three corpses were also found in the capital on Friday.—AFP