27 Jun 2009

Bomb kills 13 in Iraq

7:14 pm on 27 June 2009

A bomb has killed at least 13 people at a Baghdad market selling motorbikes and furniture.

It is the latest in a series of attacks that have intensified ahead of the withdrawal of American combat troops from Iraqi cities.

One police source said as many as 19 people were killed after the bomb, planted on a motorcycle, exploded in the market in the industrial area of Bab al-Sheikh, a mixed but majority Shi'ite Muslim part of central Baghdad.

Police said 45 people were wounded.

Shredded shoes and bits of bloody clothing were scattered around the twisted frames of motorbikes. The blast site was swiftly sealed off by Iraqi soldiers and police.

US and Iraqi officials have warned they expect the number of attacks to rise as American combat troops leave Iraq's urban centers by June 30.

A spate of bombings in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq has raised doubts about whether the Iraqi security forces can take over the fight against a stubborn insurgency.