Bomb strikes Shi'ite market, kills 69 in Iraq

The recent spike in violence has raised concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to protect civilians, but a US military spokesman maintained that US combat troops would be out of the cities by Tuesday as required by a security pact.

Brigadier General Steve Lanza said the recent high-profile attacks, usually blamed on Sunni insurgents, were part of an effort to rekindle the sectarian violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

“What’s important to understand is that the people have not responded to this,’’ he told reporters at the US Embassy in Baghdad’s protected Green Zone.

In the past, bombings in Shi’ite areas were followed by mortar attacks against Sunni strongholds or executions that were the signature of Shi’ite militias.

The explosion in Sadr City, the deadliest to strike the sprawling slum in more than two years, came just days after the US military handed over to Iraqis its main base on the edge of the former Shi’ite militia stronghold. The strategic district was used by Shi’ite militants to launch rockets onto the Green Zone during the last major fighting in the city in 2008.

The bomb, which was hidden under vegetables on a motorized pushcart, exploded about 7 p.m., apparently timed to maximize casualties by striking shoppers buying food for their evening meal at the Mradi market.

Shrapnel was blown more than 600 yards and some shops caught fire, a police officer said.

As is usual after bombings in Iraq, there were conflicting death tolls, as victims were taken to several hospitals.

An Interior Ministry official said 69 people were killed and 135 wounded, while police and hospital officials in Sadr City put the death toll at 72.

US helicopters buzzed over the blast site, which was cordoned off by Iraqi police.

Qassim Ismail, 24, who was walking through the market with friends, was wounded by shrapnel.

“It sounded like unbelievable thunder and there was shattered glass and a hurricane of wind that knocked me down,’’ he said. “I found myself lying next to a concrete block, which may have saved me.’’

Another bomb exploded later yesterday in the mainly Shi’ite neighborhood of Jihad, killing at least one civilian and wounding 10 others, most of them young men at a billiards hall.

US and Iraqi officials anticipated the rise in violence before the June 30 deadline for most US troops to pull back from urban areas - the first stage of a full withdrawal by the end of 2011. US combat operations will continue in rural areas or if requested by the Iraqi government.

Four days earlier, a truck bombing killed 82 people in a mainly Shi’ite town near Kirkuk, in the deadliest bombing so far this year.

Back-to-back suicide bombings by female attackers also killed 71 people outside a Shi’ite shrine in Baghdad on April 24.

US and Iraqi officials are still working out details on the number of US military personnel who will remain in the cities in an advisory and training role.