BAGHDAD: Two suicide bombers, one of them driving an explosives-laden vehicle, blew themselves up in northwestern Baghdad Saturday, killing at least 24 people, police said.

The attack took place at around 5:30 p.m. (local time) on Adan Square, one of the main access points for the Shiite site of Kadhimiyah, which attracts many visitors on Saturdays.

“The first explosion was a suicide car bomb and then there was a bomber with a suicide vest,” a police colonel said.

He said initial reports were of 24 killed and 37 wounded. A source at the nearby Kadhimiyah hospital confirmed the casualty toll.

Adan Square has been repeatedly hit by attacks. More than 20 people died in a suicide bombing there in February.

Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad and several other cities Friday, urging the government to deliver on its promised reform package aimed at tackling corruption and improving services.

Iraqis have been staging weekly protests since July. The movement that stemmed from exasperation over power cuts in the searing summer heat gradually led to broader demands for political reform.

Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced a reform package but change has been slow to materialize and the protests have continued.

“Baghdad will no longer be silent,” chanted thousands of protesters in the capital’s Tahrir Square.

Regular protesters — dominated by secular groups, journalists, artists and social activists — were joined Friday by supporters of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.

“Our participation in the protests continues because the scope of Abadi’s reforms is limited,” said Bashir Al-Saadi, a young Sadr supporter.

He claimed the prime minister was restrained in his efforts by his own Dawa party — of which his predecessor and rival Nuri Maliki is also a member — and other parties.