Two mentally retarded women strapped with remote-control explosives brought carnage Friday to two pet bazaars, killing at 73 people. Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, Iraq's chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said the women had Down syndrome and may not have known they were on suicide missions. According to the AP, he said the bombs were detonated by remote control.
At least 46 people were killed in the first blast at the crowded Ghazil market, which has been bombed at least three times in the past year.
Police said the woman wearing the bomb sold cream in the mornings at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady." Police initially said the bomb was hidden in a box of birds but later determined it was a suicide attack after finding the woman's head, an officer said.
The market only opens on Fridays and is a popular spectacle visited by hundreds of Baghdadis. This pet bazaar had recently re-emerged as a popular shopping venue as Baghdad security improved and a Friday ban on driving was lifted.
About 20 minutes after the first attack, the second female suicide bomber was blown apart in a bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad. As many as 27 people died and 67 were wounded, police and hospital officials said.
On Thursday, Iraqi government figures indicated that 466 Iraqi civilians had died violently in January, more than 76 percent lower than the 1,971 killed in January 2007. A total of 481 were killed in December.
