A series of car bombs today ripped through a crowded marketplace and a Shiite militia's checkpoint, killing 19 people in separate attacks north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The blasts came as the country's prime minister vowed to punish those who smashed ancient artefacts in the northern city of Mosul. Police said the first attack took place yesterday when a car bomb exploded near a busy market in the town of Balad Ruz 45 miles north-east of Baghdad. Minutes later, a second car bomb went off, targeting people who gathered to inspect the site of the first blast.
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