Car bomb kills 11 in Baghdad

An Iraqi youth looks at a destroyed vehicle caught in the blast of a car bomb at a wholesale produce market near a mixed neighbourhood of Dura in southern Baghdad yesterday. Photo: AFP

A car bomb exploded yesterday at the entrance to a fruit and vegetable market in south Baghdad, killing 11 people and wounding about 30, police and hospital officials said, in the latest sign of rise in attacks.
The blast, which occurred about 7:00 am local time at the Rasheed market in the city's southern Dora area, follows a sharp increase in violence in Iraq last month, raising concern that militants have regrouped after suffering sharp setbacks in fighting over the last two years.
Most of the recent bombings have taken place in Shiite areas, suggesting Sunni militants such as al-Qaida in Iraq are responsible. The Rasheed market is in a mainly Sunni area but the farmers who bring their crops there are predominantly Shiites.
Some survivors of the blast complained that security forces were too lax in searching trucks used by farmers to bring produce to the market.
"The security personnel are not searching the farmers who bring their vegetables to the market," survivor Raad Hussein told Associated Press Television News. "They search only private cars."
Kamil Lahmoud, a Shiite farmer from Mahmoudiya, said he had just sold his produce and was inside an office collecting his money when the blast happened.
"I was injured slightly in my head and left hand," he said. "I went out and saw many people covered with blood and bodies scattered everywhere."
Police and hospital officials confirmed the attack and the casualty toll but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.
Despite the rise in attacks, the Iraqi government has ruled out asking US combat troops to remain in Iraqi cities after the June 30 deadline for their withdrawal.