Suicide bomber kills 21, hurts 30 in village market, Iraqis say

BAGHDAD — A suicide attacker blew himself up in a market south of the capital Friday, killing at least 21 people while another blast in a nearby city wounded five, police and medical officials said.

Explosions are common in Iraq and have killed hundreds of people this year alone. The blasts have been ongoing as government forces and their allies have scored victories against the Islamic State group also known as ISIS that has claimed responsibility for much of the attacks.

The officials said the Friday blast in a market in the village of Musayyib killed 21 and wounded 30.

“It was a very ugly incident,” said Falah Khafaji, head of the security committee in the southern province of Babil where Musayyib is located. The attack occurred as people were out shopping during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

The blast came hours after a bomb exploded in the Shiite holy city of Karbala near Mussayyib.

Shortly after the two blasts occurred, the ISISlinked Aamaq news agency said the group was behind both attacks. It said both were carried out by suicide attackers wearing explosive vests.

Musayyib and Karbala are predominantly Shiite Muslim, a sect that ISIS reviles.

Also Friday, the Iraqi government criticized the announcement by the Kurdish autonomous government that it will hold a referendum on independence in September. Earlier this week, Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, announced plans for a referendum Sept. 25 on whether to secede from Iraq. The vote would be held in three governorates that make up the Kurdish region and in the areas that are disputed by the Kurdish and Iraqi governments.