BAGHDAD: Vehicles and pedestrians returned to the streets of Baghdad on Sunday with the lifting of a four-day curfew imposed in the aftermath of the bombing of a Shiite shrine.
People working in government and private establishments were making their way to their offices, while women and children visited local markets to buy household goods, residents said.
"The past four days were bad... we felt as if we were quarantined," said Mohammed Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Baghdad's western Mansur district.
"There was no electricity, no petrol in cars or for coolers in the house. It was really bad. The only good thing was that we got some extra time to spend with our family though the conditions were bad."
Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew in Baghdad on Wednesday in a bid to avert any major outbreak of sectarian bloodshed after the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in the northern town of Samarra.
The shrine's two gold-topped minarets were destroyed in bomb attacks by suspected Al-Qaeda militants.
The shrine was previously attacked in February 2006, triggering nationwide sectarian bloodletting that continues to this day.
Baghdad will continue to be under a regular curfew between 11 pm and 6:00 am.
US and Iraqi forces are currently deployed in the capital as part of a massive crackdown to curb the daily violence.
