Fears about security are turning Baghdad’s once bustling streets into ghost bazaars. It’s something never seen since the establishment of the modern State of Iraq in 1921.

Fear and unease on the part of both consumers and merchants means that the vigorous buying and selling that once went on until late at night now stops by mid-afternoon.

Everywhere is hit – the Iraqi capital’s best-known marketplaces like the al-Safafeer Souq with its traditional, popular, and cultural goods; the al-Ghazl Souq which specializes in birds and animals; Souq al-Kutub, the celebrated book market; and Souq al-Shorja, the city’s biggest wholesale marketplace. ~Monsters and Critics

Via Antiwar