Two civilians died and 20 others were injured Friday when an explosive device went off in the al-Rasheed market in Baghdad, media reports said, according to dpa. A government source was quoted by Yaqen news agency as saying that the explosion caused severe damage to the shops in the market. Heads of the parliamentary blocs on Friday morning held an urgent closed session, attended by the interior, defense and national security ministers to discuss the security condition in the country after the recent bombings in Baghdad. The meeting follows a series of explosions that targeted government buildings in Baghdad on Wednesday, and left around 100 people killed and 1,200 injured. A series of bombings that struck different parts of the southern province of Babel on Thursday left six civilians dead and more than 80 injured. Those included the detonation of an explosive device attached to a bus north of Hilla City, killing three people and injuring eight others. Two other charges exploded in a popular market in the al- Mahaweel district, leaving three people dead and 25 injured, Yaqen reported. Two other devices detonated simultaneously in al-Maseeb district Thursday, wounding 53 people. Also on Friday, one civilian was killed while his son was injured by US forces in the Iraqi northern city of Baquba, according to a security source. "US troops raided al-Mulla Houbash village in Khales district, north of Baquba, on Friday and stormed a house, where they opened fire on its owner, killing him and injuring his son," the source told the Voices of Iraq news agency. The source added that the forces then arrested the son, saying he is wanted to judicial authorities.
