A bomb killed 13 people and wounded 57 at a pet market in central Baghdad today.
Four policemen were among the wounded after the bomb, hidden in a box of birds, went off at the Ghazil pet market.
The market attack was the worst since 32 people were killed by twin car bombs in the predominantly Shia district of Bayaa in southwestern Baghdad in September and could dent recent confidence among Iraqis that security is getting better.
Levels of violence have fallen across Iraq in recent months, with the US military saying attacks were down by 55 per cent since an extra 30,000 US troops became deployed in mid-June.
The increase in US troops has targeted Shia militias and al-Qaeda fighters who are blamed for most large-scale bombings in Iraq. US commanders however say that overall levels of violence in Iraq remain too high.
Yesterday, 10 mortar bombs landed in Baghdad's Green Zone, the heavily fortified central Baghdad compound that houses the US embassy and the Iraqi parliament.