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At least eight people have been killed and a number of others wounded in attacks on a market in a mainly Shia neighbourhood of north-west Baghdad. A number of explosions shook the Shula district, after which gunmen raided shops in the gold market. Witnesses said the gunmen stole amounts of gold before they escaped, shooting wildly and throwing hand grenades. Security officials say there is a link between criminal gangs and the still-active anti-US insurgency. A hospital official is quoted by Reuters news agency confirming that eight people died and another nine were injured at the market. Political and sectarian violence has diminished in Iraq since 2005-07 levels, but lawlessness remains a problem, and there has been a recent spike in violent incidents. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed the local head of a government-allied Sunni militia and at least seven others in Buhriz, north-east of Baghdad in the restive Diyala province.