Remote-controlled explosives were strapped to two women with Down’s syndrome and detonated in coordinated attacks on two Friday morning markets in central Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 73 people and wounding nearly 150.
The first targeted shoppers at a pet market in the al-Ghazl area, killing 46 people and injuring 100. About 20 minutes later, a second bomber struck at a smaller bird market in south-eastern Baghdad, killing 27 people and wounding at least 67.
The toll made it one of the deadliest days since the US troop surge a year ago began to arrest the spread of violence.
The chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brigadier General Qassim al-Moussawi, claimed the female bombers had Down’s syndrome and that the explosives were detonated by remote control, indicating they may not have been willing attackers in what could be a new method by suspected Sunni insurgents to subvert stepped-up security measures.
The US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, said the bombings showed that al-Qaida has "found a different, deadly way" to try to destabilize Iraq.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice said the bombings in Iraq proved al-Qaida is "the most brutal and bankrupt of movements" and would strengthen Iraqi resolve to reject terrorism.
Police said both bombers were women who had slipped past local security checks by hiding explosives under their black abaya robes.
Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi military in Baghdad, said the suicide bombs were detonated remotely by mobile telephones. "We found the mobiles used to detonate the women," he said, adding that the women had mental disabilities. He did not elaborate on how the Iraqi military knew about their mental condition.
In January, the number of Iraqi civilians and security forces killed fell to 600, the lowest monthly death toll since December 2005, according to unofficial tallies. Despite the nationwide reduction in violence, senior US military officials in Iraq have repeatedly warned against complacency, saying that a number of Sunni and Shia militant groups are still bent on fomenting sectarian strife.