Bomb kills 13 in new attack on Baghdad pet fair

Baghdad, Jan 26: A bomb killed 13 people and wounded 33 in the second attack in as many months on Baghdad's much-loved today morning pet market, police sources said.

The blast hit the Ghazil market in the city centre about an hour before a weekly 1330 hrs vehicle curfew in the Iraqi capital, aimed at protecting mosques during today noon prayers.

A police source said witnesses believed the bomb had been planted in a box that the bomber had punched with air holes to pass it off as a container for birds. Parrots, canaries, cats and more exotic pets are prime attractions at the market.

On December. 1, also a Friday, a car bomb killed three people at Ghazil market. It lies in the crowded commercial district of Bab al-Sharji, where a double car bombing killed 88 people on Monday, in one of the bloodiest attacks of recent months.

Bomb attacks killed at least 34 people in Baghdad on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned militants from both Shi'ite and Sunni camps they would have nowhere to hide from a coming major crackdown backed by US troops.

''There will be no safe haven -- no school, no home, no (Sunni) mosque or Shi'ite mosque. They will all be raided if they are turned into a launch pad for terrorism, even the headquarters of political parties,'' he told parliament.

Reuters