"I helped to evacuate the injured and the dead," clothing salesman Gaith Saadi said during a phone interview. "Merchants and customers are leaving the market as early as possible these days because of the explosions. We used to close down at 4 p.m., now we close at 1 p.m. Most of the shops in our market are closed and the owners have left Iraq."
Mortar rounds, suicide bombers and gunfire in the capital left at least nine other people dead.
In Baqubah, a fractious, polyglot city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, 18 people were killed Tuesday, including three Iraqi police officers, Iraqi authorities said.
In the northern oil hub of Kirkuk, gunmen attacked a house late Monday, killing four people and wounding two. On Tuesday, a bomb exploded near a police patrol vehicle, killing two people, including a police officer and injuring four civilians.
Gunmen in Kirkuk also attacked a barbershop, killing one hairstylist.
In Tikrit, the hometown of deposed President Saddam Hussein, a roadside bomb killed a police officer and wounded seven people.
*
moore1@latimes.com
Times correspondents in Ramadi, Baghdad, Baqubah, Hillah, Kirkuk and Tikrit contributed to this report.