Jun
25
Die 61 to set off bombs in Shiite market in Baghdad
It was the third attack is the deadliest this year and occurred less than a week before the deadline for U.S. forces to leave Iraqi cities under a new security pact.
One hour later, two bombs detonated at the roadside in Shiite neighborhood of the capital killed one person and wounding 19, said police and medical personnel.
The bomb was hidden under vegetables in a motorized cart near a crowded market in the Shiite district of Sadr City, police said.
A local police said the explosion apparently was activated at 1900 local time to cause maximum casualties as possible. He said the shrapnel hit people over 600 meters (yards) away.
The attack occurred Wednesday when a week for missing the deadline of June 30 for removal of U.S. troops from major Iraqi cities. This withdrawal is part of an agreement that stipulates the country's output of all U.S. troops by the end of 2011.
The explosion at 7 pm seemed planned to cause the greatest mortality, as occurred at the time the people you shop for dinner.
The explosives were placed in a motorized cart and shrapnel flew more than 600 meters, said a police officer.
Police officers and health officials said they had more than 100 wounded. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose information.
The explosion also caused fires in several shops.
U.S. officials Iraqi and warned of a likely increase in violence before the June 30, when is the deadline for most U.S. forces should withdraw from urban areas, the first stage of a full withdrawal to be accomplished before the end of 2011.
General Steve Lanza, U.S. military spokesman, said previously that the attacks were trying to detonate as the sectarian violence that brought the country to the brink of civil war.
As part of the retreat, the U.S. commanders on June 20 handed over the control of a crucial base at the edge of Sadr City. The base serves as a center of operations in the vast neighborhood, a stronghold of militias and the scene of fierce fighting before the U.S. repression forced a ceasefire.
Four days earlier, a truck bomb left 82 people dead in a Shiite near the northern city of Kirkuk.