February 2007 Shorja market bombings

Two car bombs exploded in Baghdad, Iraq at 12:20 on 12 February 2007 in the Shorja market district, killing 76 people, and injuring 155–180.^[1][2]

Shorja market bombings
Part of the Iraq War, Iraqi insurgency, and the Iraqi civil war
Location	Baghdad, Iraq
Date	12 February 2007 (UTC+3)
Attack type	Car bombing, fire
Deaths	76+
Injured	155-180
Perpetrators	Unknown

The explosions set market stalls, shops, and an adjoining 7-storey building on fire, causing further casualties, and local fire-crews struggled for hours to extinguish the flames.^[3] The collapse of a building was also reported. The injured were taken to the nearby Al-Kindi hospital, which struggled to cope with the influx, and more casualties are expected from injuries.^[4]

Al-Askari anniversary

The bombings happened during 15 minutes of state endorsed silence, to mark the anniversary^[5] of the Al-Askari Mosque bombing in Samarra, which prompted heavy bloodshed. The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was participating in a televised ceremony remembering the victims of the attack, and was speaking when the blasts occurred, only two miles away.^[6] Al-Maliki had been calling for calm, unity and reconciliation,^[7] and had said that the Iraqi Security Forces were regaining control of Iraq's security situation.