Dozens were killed and wounded in an explosion targeting a market in Sadr City, east of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Security and medical sources said that at least 29 people were killed and at least 47 others wounded in the explosion, adding that the victims included women and children.

The official Iraqi News Agency stated that the explosion was caused by an explosive device, while the Security Media Cell of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense said that an investigation had been launched into the incident.

The Security Media Cell described the bombing - which took place in the Al-Wahilat market in Sadr City - as "terrorist".

A government medical source in Baghdad said that the Ministry of Health has mobilized all its staff in hospitals to receive the dead and wounded in the bombing.

For his part, Yahya Rasoul, a spokesman for the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, said in a statement that Al-Kazemi had ordered the arrest of the commander of the security force responsible for securing the Al-Wahailat market.

The Iraqi Prime Minister also ordered, according to the same source, the opening of an investigation into the bombing by the Baghdad Operations Command of the army.