The death toll in attacks on February 1 at two animal markets was the highest in months in Baghdad. The first device was detonated by a female suicide bomber in the popular Ghazil animal market, killing at least 46 people and injuring a further 80. Just 20 minutes later, a second bomb tore through another crowded market in the Jadida area of east Baghdad, killing at least 27 people and injuring 67.

Security has improved significantly since the US implemented its troop “surge” in the second half of 2007.

A ceasefire announced in August 2007 by the Mehdi Army militia of Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, as well as the emergence of local Sunni militia armed by the US military that took on al-Qaeda in Iraq, have also contributed to the sense of security.

Figures released by Iraqi ministries on February 1 suggested that the number of civilians and security forces killed across Iraq in January - 541 - was the lowest monthly total for nearly two years.

But that renewed confidence could be shattered by February 1 deadly bombings, the worst to hit the Iraqi capital since three car bombs killed 80 people on August 1, 2007.