A motorcycle bomb killed seven people and injured 45 others as it ripped through a crowded motorbike market in Baghdad's Shi'ite Sadr City district on Thursday, an Interior Ministry source said.
The bomb, detonated by remote control, targeted shoppers in the Mureydi market, according to Reuters. The source added officers initially thought the blast was caused by a rigged car but later determined the explosives had been planted on a motorcycle.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded the U.S. and Iraqi military lift a blockade of the district that was enforced after a U.S. soldier of Iraqi descent was suspected to have been kidnapped.
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said Thursday at least 119 Iraqi policemen were killed in shootings, abductions and bomb attacks last month. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official, quoted by AFP, said 185 police were reported injured in October. Altogether, more than 1,000 Iraqis died from violence in October.
