Baghdad - Attacks carried out by two female suicide bombers on Baghdad's pet and bird markets have left at least 84 people dead and 153 injured, hospital and police sources said Saturday. Seventy-six of the wounded were still receiving treatment, while the other 100 had been released from hospital, sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Hospitals around Baghdad had been receiving the dead and wounded in the attacks, which occurred on Friday morning as both markets were teeming with people.
Iraqi President Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday described those responsible for the two explosions as "people with sick and corrupt minds".
"The aim of these explosions was to hinder a normal life to return back in Baghdad," al-Maliki said in a press statement.
He added that terrorists used two mentally retarded females to carry out the explosions.
"This crime is highly condemned, but it will further boost our persistence to achieve security and combat terrorism," he said.
Al-Ghazl market has been struck several times since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. In November, a bomb hidden in a small box exploded, killing 15 people and injuring dozens.
