Baghdad Market: 14 Dead and 106 Wounded in Twin Bombing

A double bombing of a busy market in a Shiite neighbourhood of northeastern Baghdad has killed 14 people dead and 106 wounded, authorities said.

The first bomb hit Husseiniya, a market on the outskirts of the Iraqi capital. The second followed soon after as security forces and onlookers rushed in to rescue casualties.

"Fruit and vegetables have been scattered everywhere. Some children were wounded," Mudhaffar Khalaf, a police officer, told Reuters. "We have started to evacuate the injured people."

Tensions have grown among Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish ethnic groups in Iraq since US troops left in December, leaving them in a struggle for power.

At least 125 Iraqis have been killed over the last two weeks in bombings and shootings that have targeted Shiite and government security forces.

A suicide bomber killed at least 15 mourners at a Shiite funeral on 18 June in the northern city of Baquba. Twin car bombs killed at least 26 Shiite pilgrims two days earlier.

Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has tried to block attempts by Sunni, Kurd and some Shiite rivals to organise a no-confidence vote against him.

They accuse him of trying to consolidate power at their expense.