At least 22 killed in two bombings in Baghdad

At least 22 people were killed in two bombings in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, police said, hours before the government was due to lift a long-standing night-time curfew on the capital. At least 50 people were wounded in the blasts, the officials said.

In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a restaurant in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of New Baghdad, leaving 12 dead. In the second attack, two bombs ripped through the bustling Sharqa market district, killing 10 people. Earlier police had put the number of dead at 23.

The interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said he did not believe the blasts were linked to the decision to lift the curfew. The Iraqi government announced on Thursday that the decade-old curfew in the capital would end on Saturday at midnight and that four neighbourhoods would be "demilitarised".

The moves are part of a campaign to normalise life in Iraq's war-blighted capital and to persuade residents that Baghdad no longer faces a threat from Islamic State, the militant group which seized large areas of northern and western Iraq last year.

Some form of curfew has been in place since the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003, hindering commercial and civilian movement. The midnight (2100 GMT) to 5 am (0200 GMT) curfew has been in place for more than seven years.

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