At least 16 people have been killed by a car bomb at a market in the Shi’ite holy city of Kufa in Iraq. Over 70 people have been wounded, with many of them taken to hospital for treatment.

The open-air market was packed with shoppers, who were buying food for the four-day Eid al-Adha festival – an important holiday in the Islamic calendar.

Children and women are among the victims, according to a Najaf Health Department’s spokesman.

The attack is reminiscent of a December bombing at the fish market in Kufa, which claimed 31 lives.