A least 18 people were killed and dozens injured in a mortar attack on a crowded outdoor market in the Iraqi city of Mahmoudiyah today, police said.
At least 12 mortar rounds rained down soon after a bomb attached to a bicycle ripped through the market at about 5.30pm local time, said army Captain Oday Abdul Ridha.
Three dead and 40 of the most seriously injured were taken to a hospital in Yarmouk in Baghdad's western suburbs, about 30km (20 miles) north of Mahmoudiya, police said.
Lt Hayder Satar of the Mahmoudiyah police said 18 people were confirmed dead, but that number was likely to rise given the nature of some of the injuries. He said 52 people had been wounded in the attack in all.