Officials say at least 27 people were killed and more than 50 wounded today when two car bombs blew up outside a state-run bank in Baghdad.
The two explosives-packed cars were a few hundred yards apart when they detonated shortly after 11 am local time as the area was crowded with people at the start of the work week.
The force of the blast tore the glass facade off the three-story Trade Bank of Iraq building, leaving chairs and desks exposed.
Iraqi security forces swarmed through the debris while clean-up crews used cranes to move the charred wreckage of several vehicles destroyed by the blast.