Double Bomb Attack Hits Crowded Indian Market(Photo)

At least 21 people were killed and 43 others wounded as two bombs exploded in the centre of Baghdad, according to police officials.Police said the blasts went off on Saturday near car spare parts shops in Al Sinak during the morning rush.

One of them was triggered by a suicide bomber, the other was a planted explosive, an Interior Ministry official told the Reuters news agency.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known as ISIS)claimed responsibility for the attack.

Baghdad has been on high alert since October 17, the start of Iraq's largest military operation in years to retake ISIL's stronghold of Mosul in the country's north.

ISIL took Mosul in 2014, and has launched several attacks in Baghdadin recent months.

The area that was targeted on Saturday is packed with wholesale markets and usually teeming with daily labourers unloading vans and wheeling carts around.