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Baghdad double suicide attack kills many Baghdad suicide bombers kill dozens in attack on labourers
(about 9 hours later)
At least 35 people have been killed in a double suicide bombing in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, medical sources say, the second attack in three days. Two suicide bombers have killed at least 35 people and injured 90 in an attack on a Baghdad square where day labourers gather to look for work.
More than 90 were injured in the attack in Tayaran Square, in the city centre. They set off their devices at intervals, sending people scattering across Tayaran Square in the centre of the Iraqi capital.
Baghdad has repeatedly been the target of bombings and armed attacks since the Islamic State (IS) group overran large areas of the country in 2014. Scores of labourers are said to be among the dead and injured.
However, the pace of attacks has slowed since Iraq's government declared it had retaken all the territory last month. Attacks on the city had become less frequent since the Islamic State group lost its Iraqi strongholds last year.
Monday's attack was carried out by two men wearing suicide vests packed with explosives, the interior ministry said. The government declared it had retaken all territory overrun by the Sunni Muslim militants since 2014.
The site of the attack is a busy square where large crowds of construction workers gather to find work every morning. It has been targeted by militants in the past. How were the attacks mounted?
Later on Monday, two civilians were killed and six others wounded by a bomb explosion in the north-eastern district of Jamila, medical and security sources said. Two men set off suicide bomb belts, the first one detonating his device at around 07:00 (10:00 GMT).
BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says that the suicide bombings in Tayaran Square were designed to maximise casualties, as is often the case, with one bomb swiftly followed by another. CCTV videos circulated on social media show the moment of the first blast and people fleeing through stalls or carrying at least one person who seems to be injured.
Success by Iraqi forces in defeating IS as a territorial threat is likely to have caused the decrease in attacks recently, as jihadist bomb factories west of Baghdad can no longer operate, he adds. An eyewitness, Husain Abdallah, told AFP news agency the bomber had just got off a bus.
But attacks are continuing, amid fears that the militants will revert to the guerrilla tactics they have used for so long. After the blast Mr Abdallah and others began running and were still trying to escape when the second bomb went off.
Another video, recorded on a mobile phone, captured the moment of that attack and the crowd panic that followed, with what appeared to be shots being fired.
The attacks were designed to maximise casualties, as is often the case, with one bomb swiftly followed by another, BBC Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says.
Large crowds of construction workers gather to find work every morning on Tayaran and it has been targeted by militants in the past.
Another bomb attack in Baghdad on Monday, in the north-eastern district of Jamila, killed two civilians and injured six others, medical and security sources say.
Who carried out the attacks?
No group said it had carried out the bombing but such attacks are usually attributed to IS, which regards members of Iraq's majority Shia Muslim community as heretics.
Success by Iraqi forces in defeating IS as a territorial threat is likely to have caused the decrease in attacks recently, as jihadist bomb factories west of Baghdad can no longer operate, our Arab affairs editor adds.
However, there are fears the militants will revert to the guerrilla tactics they have used for so long.
A suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in the north of the city on Saturday killed at least five people, police said.A suicide bomb attack on a checkpoint in the north of the city on Saturday killed at least five people, police said.
Deadliest recent militant attacks in Iraq How bad have previous attacks been?
July 2016: More than 300 civilians killed and hundreds injured in an IS suicide truck bomb attack in Baghdad's Shia district of Karrada - the deadliest attack by a single bomber in Iraq's history Attacks on the square since 2011 have killed 180 people, "often in the run-up to elections or just after the polls", Iraqi analyst Hisham al-Hashemi was quoted as saying by AFP.
November 2016: Up to 125 people, many of them Shia pilgrims from Iran and Afghanistan, killed in a suicide car bombing by IS at a petrol station in Hilla, south of Baghdad Their aim is to "create chaos and exacerbate sectarian divisions", he said.
July 2015: Truck bombing in marketplace at Khan Bani Saad, Diyala killed up to 120 - claimed by IS Other militant attacks in recent years have been even deadlier:
11 May 2016: Multiple bombings in Baghdad targeted mainly Shia districts including Sadr City, killing 93 people. IS said it carried out two of the attacks
17 May 2016: Three bombings across Baghdad killed 77, including 41 in Shaab district and 30 in Sadr City