Two bomb blasts outside a shopping mall in Baghdad have killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens of others.
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The explosions – one believed to have been caused by a auto bomb in the mall’s parking garage and the second by a suicide bomber at the mall’s entrance – happened just before midnight on Friday.
The Interior Ministry said there were no casualties inside the shopping complex.
The cameras were eventually returned, but video footage shot by an AFP photographer was deleted by the firm.
The Nakheel mall was opened past year in Central Baghdad and houses one of the city’s most popular cinemas.
According to security sources, Daesh has claimed the attack on Nakheel Mall.
The market was crowded at night as the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha approaches.
A vehicle bomb near a hospital in central Baghdad killed nine people on Monday, and another one down the road in July killed 324, one of the deadliest such attacks since the USA -led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein 13 years ago.
The shopping centre opened previous year in the Iraqi capital’s Palestine Street.
The attack comes as Iraqi ground forces move into position around Mosul ahead of a planned operation to retake the militant-held city from the so-called Islamic State group.
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As the jihadist organisation loses territory across Iraq, officials have warned that it may step up revenge attacks against civilians in Baghdad and other cities.
