NAJAF, Iraq, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A trio of bombs detonated in Najaf, Iraq, Thursday evening, killing as many as 25 people and injuring scores more, Iraqi Interior Ministry said.
The explosions took place in a crowded fish-and-vegetable market near the Imam Ali shrine, a popular pilgrimage destination for Shiite Muslims, McClatchy Newspapers reported.
While no firm death toll had been confirmed, an Interior Ministry official in Baghdad who requested anonymity said the central government had been told there were 25 dead and 72 wounded, the newspaper group said. It reported the director of health services in Najaf placed the death toll much lower, with only one person killed and 77 hurt, many critically.
The Washington Post reported a doctor at a local hospital said there were at least 10 dead.
"There were many people killed and many more injured, but no (official) is willing to make a statement and give the correct number," Mohammed Hassan, a Najaf police officer who survived the bombings and witnessed the carnage, told McClatchy.
While no one had claimed responsibility for violence, Iraqi politicians blamed Sunni Muslim insurgents with ties to extremist groups and the Baath Party of executed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
