Seven dead as arms depot blows up in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: At least seven people were killed as an arms depot exploded in the Sadr City district of the Iraqi capital late Wednesday, security and medical sources said.

"An arms depot exploded... The security forces have opened an inquiry to determine the cause," Baghdad's security operations command said in a statement.

Seven people were killed and 22 injured in the blast, a senior police source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

It was heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and shells, belonging to an armed group and stored in a house, he said.

The sources said the blast struck near a Shiite mosque in the district of northeast Baghdad.

Witnesses reported heavy material damage to homes and other buildings in the Sadr City district that is a stronghold of populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.