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At least 10 wounded in blast in Baghdad

Xinhua, September 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least ten people were wounded on Friday in an explosion of a rocket cache in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a police source told Xinhua.

The blast occurred in the morning after a fire broke out at a cache of rockets and mortar rounds in al-Obeidi neighborhood, a stronghold of Shiite militant groups in eastern Baghdad, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The fire also sent dozens of rockets and other ordnance randomly to nearby neighborhoods, wounding at least ten people and causing damages to many houses, shops and cars, the source said.

These weapons are used by Shiite militias in the battles against the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group, the source added.

Iraq has witnessed intense violence since the IS took control of parts of its northern and western regions in June 2014.

Terrorist acts, violence and armed conflicts killed 691 Iraqis and wounded 1,016 others in August across Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq said on Thursday.

Many blame the current chronic instability, cycle of violence, and the emergence of extremist groups, such as the IS, on the U.S. that invaded and occupied Iraq in March 2003. Endit