2 suicide bombers kill dozens at Iraq market

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A pair of suicide bombers detonated explosivesThursday among shoppers in a crowded outdoor market in a Shiite citysouth of Baghdad, killing at least 45 people and wounding 150,police said. Bombs and a mortar attack killed at least 17 others inboth Shiite and Sunni areas of Baghdad.

Overall, more than 100 people were killed or found dead acrossthe country, reflecting the ongoing wave of sectarian and insurgencybloodletting as the U.S. military gears up for a major securityoperation to stem the violence.

The biggest attack took place in the center of Hillah, a cityabout 60 miles south of Baghdad. Police and witnesses said the twobombers strolled into the Maktabat market about 6 p.m., when thearea was packed with shoppers buying food for the evening meal.

One of the bombers detonated his explosives when he wasapproached by police and the other blew himself up moments later,said police spokesman Capt. Muthanna Khaled, who gave the casualtyfigures. Baghdad television stations reported death figures as highas 57, but they could not be confirmed.

The blasts sent bodies hurling through the air and set fire towooden stalls where vendors sold fruits and vegetables, witnessessaid. Shoppers fled in panic, while others stopped to help rescuerscarry away the wounded.

Dr. Mohammed Diya of the Hillah General Hospital said some of thewounded were in critical condition, raising concern the death tollcould rise.

Qassim Abed Sadah, 33, a bookseller, said the first explosionblew him out of his chair. He raced to the door of his shop just asthe second blast occurred. "People were flying in the air," he said.

Pools of blood were scattered along the market streets, alongwith bits of fruits and vegetables.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in along series in Hillah since the insurgency erupted in late 2003.

The Shiite city, located in a religiously mixed province, was thescene of one of Iraq's deadliest attacks -- a February 2005 suicidecar bombing that killed 125 people.

In Baghdad, sectarian violence flared in both Shiite and Sunniareas of the capital, where U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing forthe third major security crackdown in a year.

Six people died and 12 were wounded when a car bomb exploded onRashid Street in the mostly Shiite heart of the city. A bomb on apublic bus killed another six people and wounded eight in theupscale Shiite commercial district of Karradah.

Several mortar rounds slammed into the Sunni district of Azamiyahfor a third straight day, killing five people and wounding 12,according to hospital and police officials.

"What have we done to be attacked like this almost every day?"asked Saad Abdul-Karim, 50, whose son was wounded when one of therounds struck their home.

Police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 33 men scattered acrossthe Iraqi capital, the Interior Ministry said. Most showed signs oftorture and were believed to be the victims of Shiite and Sunnideath squads.

Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier died Thursday of wounds suffered twodays ago in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west ofBaghdad, the military said. Three civilians were killed in separateshootings in the northern city of Mosul, and a policeman died in acar bombing in the city of Qaim on the Syrian border, police said.

In Baqouba, five gunmen broke into the athletic department of alocal university, seized the son of the department's director, tookhim into his father's office and shot both of them dead, policesaid. The city, located about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, hasbeen riveted by sectarian violence for months.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of fomenting sectarian strife byarming and training Shiite militias. President Bush has authorizedU.S. forces to kill or capture any Iranian agents found in thiscountry. Defense officials are also looking into the possibilitythat Iranian agents may have been behind the Jan. 20 attack inKarbala in which five Americans were killed -- four of them afterbeing taken prisoner.

In an interview with NPR, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burnssaid there was a "political and moral difference" between what theUnited States and the Iranians are doing in Iraq, reiteratingallegations that Tehran has been supporting Shiite militias thathave been blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in Iraq.

However, the U.S.-backed Iraqi government includes Shiite andKurdish parties with longtime ties to Iran, and the rising U.S.-Iranian tensions adds new strains to an Iraqi leadership barely ableto cope with the worsening security crisis.

During a news conference Thursday, the chief government spokesmansaid Iraq would consider any attack against U.S. forces in Iraq asan assault against this country. But he added that Iraq also wantsgood relations with Iran.

"We have long borders with (the Iranians), we have localinterests with (them) and we would like to have our relation not inthe shadow of the others," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said onCNN that Baghdad had told both the Iranians and the Americans "tosolve your problems outside of Iraq."

As a sign of the war's toll, a Health Ministry official said1,990 civilians had been killed in violence in January, a more thanthreefold increase from the 548 civilians the ministry reportedkilled in the same month last year. Casualty figures arecontroversial and widely disputed in Iraq, and counts kept by othergroups, including the United Nations, have listed far highernumbers.

The official, who declined to be identified because he was notauthorized to release the data, said 1,936 civilians also had beenwounded, according to the figures, which were compiled from dailyreports sent by morgues and hospitals nationwide.

Figures provided by the Defense and Interior ministries alsoshowed that 100 Iraqi security forces were killed in January, while593 insurgents were killed and 1,926 detained.

------

Associated Press reporter Ali al-Fatlawi contributed to thisreport from Hillah.

2 suicide bombers kill dozens at Iraq market

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A pair of suicide bombers detonated explosivesThursday among shoppers in a crowded outdoor market in a Shiite citysouth of Baghdad, killing at least 45 people and wounding 150,police said. Bombs and a mortar attack killed at least 17 others inboth Shiite and Sunni areas of Baghdad.

Overall, more than 100 people were killed or found dead acrossthe country, reflecting the ongoing wave of sectarian and insurgencybloodletting as the U.S. military gears up for a major securityoperation to stem the violence.

The biggest attack took place in the center of Hillah, a cityabout 60 miles south of Baghdad. Police and witnesses said the twobombers strolled into the Maktabat market about 6 p.m., when thearea was packed with shoppers buying food for the evening meal.

One of the bombers detonated his explosives when he wasapproached by police and the other blew himself up moments later,said police spokesman Capt. Muthanna Khaled, who gave the casualtyfigures. Baghdad television stations reported death figures as highas 57, but they could not be confirmed.

The blasts sent bodies hurling through the air and set fire towooden stalls where vendors sold fruits and vegetables, witnessessaid. Shoppers fled in panic, while others stopped to help rescuerscarry away the wounded.

Dr. Mohammed Diya of the Hillah General Hospital said some of thewounded were in critical condition, raising concern the death tollcould rise.

Qassim Abed Sadah, 33, a bookseller, said the first explosionblew him out of his chair. He raced to the door of his shop just asthe second blast occurred. "People were flying in the air," he said.

Pools of blood were scattered along the market streets, alongwith bits of fruits and vegetables.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in along series in Hillah since the insurgency erupted in late 2003.

The Shiite city, located in a religiously mixed province, was thescene of one of Iraq's deadliest attacks -- a February 2005 suicidecar bombing that killed 125 people.

In Baghdad, sectarian violence flared in both Shiite and Sunniareas of the capital, where U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing forthe third major security crackdown in a year.

Six people died and 12 were wounded when a car bomb exploded onRashid Street in the mostly Shiite heart of the city. A bomb on apublic bus killed another six people and wounded eight in theupscale Shiite commercial district of Karradah.

Several mortar rounds slammed into the Sunni district of Azamiyahfor a third straight day, killing five people and wounding 12,according to hospital and police officials.

"What have we done to be attacked like this almost every day?"asked Saad Abdul-Karim, 50, whose son was wounded when one of therounds struck their home.

Police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 33 men scattered acrossthe Iraqi capital, the Interior Ministry said. Most showed signs oftorture and were believed to be the victims of Shiite and Sunnideath squads.

Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier died Thursday of wounds suffered twodays ago in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west ofBaghdad, the military said. Three civilians were killed in separateshootings in the northern city of Mosul, and a policeman died in acar bombing in the city of Qaim on the Syrian border, police said.

In Baqouba, five gunmen broke into the athletic department of alocal university, seized the son of the department's director, tookhim into his father's office and shot both of them dead, policesaid. The city, located about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, hasbeen riveted by sectarian violence for months.

U.S. officials have accused Iran of fomenting sectarian strife byarming and training Shiite militias. President Bush has authorizedU.S. forces to kill or capture any Iranian agents found in thiscountry. Defense officials are also looking into the possibilitythat Iranian agents may have been behind the Jan. 20 attack inKarbala in which five Americans were killed -- four of them afterbeing taken prisoner.

In an interview with NPR, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burnssaid there was a "political and moral difference" between what theUnited States and the Iranians are doing in Iraq, reiteratingallegations that Tehran has been supporting Shiite militias thathave been blamed for much of the recent sectarian violence in Iraq.

However, the U.S.-backed Iraqi government includes Shiite andKurdish parties with longtime ties to Iran, and the rising U.S.-Iranian tensions adds new strains to an Iraqi leadership barely ableto cope with the worsening security crisis.

During a news conference Thursday, the chief government spokesmansaid Iraq would consider any attack against U.S. forces in Iraq asan assault against this country. But he added that Iraq also wantsgood relations with Iran.

"We have long borders with (the Iranians), we have localinterests with (them) and we would like to have our relation not inthe shadow of the others," spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, said onCNN that Baghdad had told both the Iranians and the Americans "tosolve your problems outside of Iraq."

As a sign of the war's toll, a Health Ministry official said1,990 civilians had been killed in violence in January, a more thanthreefold increase from the 548 civilians the ministry reportedkilled in the same month last year. Casualty figures arecontroversial and widely disputed in Iraq, and counts kept by othergroups, including the United Nations, have listed far highernumbers.

The official, who declined to be identified because he was notauthorized to release the data, said 1,936 civilians also had beenwounded, according to the figures, which were compiled from dailyreports sent by morgues and hospitals nationwide.

Figures provided by the Defense and Interior ministries alsoshowed that 100 Iraqi security forces were killed in January, while593 insurgents were killed and 1,926 detained.

------

Associated Press reporter Ali al-Fatlawi contributed to thisreport from Hillah.