Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Death toll rose to three people killed and 22 others wounded when a car bomb went off near the Ghazil market in central Baghdad on Friday morning, a well-informed police source said.

    "An explosive-packed car parking near the busy market of Ghazil Souq went off at about 9:45 a.m. (0645 GMT)," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    "We have three civilians killed and 22 others wounded according to our latest reports," the source said, changing his first reports said that two people were killed and five others wounded.

    The attack targeted the old market of Ghazil, just off bustling Jumhuriyah Street in central Baghdad, where dozens of free sellers lined with shops selling live birds, fish and animals, especially on Friday when other markets closed for the Muslim day of rest.

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Two people killed in Baghdad market car bombing

    BAGHDAD, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and 17 others were wounded when a car bomb went off in a popular market in a northern Baghdad district on Friday, an Interior Ministry source said.

    "A car bomb exploded in a popular market in the Shiite neighborhood of Husseiniyah, killing two civilians and wounding 17 others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    Earlier, another car bomb went off at the busy market of Ghazil Souq in central Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 22 others, a police source said.

    The attack targeted the old market of Ghazil, just off bustling Jumhuriyah Street in central Baghdad, where dozens of free sellers lined with shops selling live birds, fish and animals, especially on Friday when other markets closed for the Muslim day of rest.

    Violence and sectarian killings rages in Iraq claiming lives of dozens of people daily.