At least 14 people were killed and 22 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in an Iraqi city Saturday evening, police said.
The car bomb exploded in an outdoor market in Samarra city, some 120 km north of here, as people were shopping in preparation for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins Tuesday, Xinhua reported citing a police source.
Many of the victims were women and children, the source added.
Iraq is witnessing its worst eruption of violence in recent years, which raises fears that the country is sliding back to the full-blown civil conflict that peaked in 2006 and 2007 when monthly death toll sometimes exceeded 3,000.
According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, almost 6,000 civilians were killed and over 14,000 others injured in Iraq from January to September this year.
