Iraqis looked at scene after a car bombing at a wholesale produce market in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad on Wednesday.
BAGHDAD — A bomb hidden beneath a pile of potatoes in a pickup truck exploded Wednesday at a crowded Baghdad market, killing at least 10 people and wounding 37 others, officials said.
A few hours later, a car bomb detonated at a gas station a few miles away in a Baghdad neighborhood, Karada, killing one person and wounding seven others.
The bombings continued a recent surge in deadly attacks aimed at Shiites, leading to fears of a new outbreak of sectarian violence as American troops prepared to leave urban areas in Iraq by the end of June.
So far, Shiites do not appear to have made any reprisal attacks, American and Iraqi security officials said.
The market bombing occurred about 7 a.m. at Al Rasheed market in Dora, a neighborhood in southern Baghdad that was once a stronghold of Sunni insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the largely homegrown organization that American intelligence officials say is led by foreigners. The area had been mostly free of violence for the past year and a half, after many insurgents joined Awakening Councils allied with American and Iraqi forces.
Many Sunni leaders have complained that the Shiite-dominated government has failed to follow through on promises to integrate many of the council members into the country’s security forces. As a result, they say, many are finding their way back to the insurgent groups they left over the past two years.
The market was closed during the worst of Iraq’s violence, and had just recently reopened. Most of the farmers who go to sell their vegetables and fruits there are Shiite, as are most of the patrons.
“It was an ordinary morning,” said Abu Mustafa, 49, who operates a stall in the market. “There were crowds of people buying, when all of a sudden a pickup truck that had been parked exploded. We’ve requested several times to the police to provide security and bomb detectors, but they never responded.”
The blast blew Mr. Mustafa backward several feet, but witnesses said its impact might have been diminished because the pickup truck had been parked between larger vehicles.
Shop owners said the police in the neighborhood told them Tuesday evening that there were rumors that produce markets would be the targets of attacks on Wednesday.
“We all came as farmers to earn our trade,” said Yahya Mohsen, 55, who was lying in a hospital bed. His stomach had been torn open by shrapnel from the attack. “Why did the police abandon us? There should have been checkpoints. There should have been guards.”
A second bomb inside a car just outside the market was found shortly after the pickup truck exploded and was disarmed by Iraqi security officials, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, said in a statement. He said the bomb appeared to have been intended to kill police officers and military personnel responding to the scene.
Wednesday’s bombings followed a bomb attack on Monday in which two cars exploded in a parking lot across the street from the heavily secured Oil Ministry in Baghdad, killing four people and wounding seven, including two police officers.
A few hours later, a car bomb detonated at a gas station a few miles away in a Baghdad neighborhood, Karada, killing one person and wounding seven others.
The bombings continued a recent surge in deadly attacks aimed at Shiites, leading to fears of a new outbreak of sectarian violence as American troops prepared to leave urban areas in Iraq by the end of June.
So far, Shiites do not appear to have made any reprisal attacks, American and Iraqi security officials said.
The market bombing occurred about 7 a.m. at Al Rasheed market in Dora, a neighborhood in southern Baghdad that was once a stronghold of Sunni insurgent groups, including Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the largely homegrown organization that American intelligence officials say is led by foreigners. The area had been mostly free of violence for the past year and a half, after many insurgents joined Awakening Councils allied with American and Iraqi forces.
Many Sunni leaders have complained that the Shiite-dominated government has failed to follow through on promises to integrate many of the council members into the country’s security forces. As a result, they say, many are finding their way back to the insurgent groups they left over the past two years.
The market was closed during the worst of Iraq’s violence, and had just recently reopened. Most of the farmers who go to sell their vegetables and fruits there are Shiite, as are most of the patrons.
“It was an ordinary morning,” said Abu Mustafa, 49, who operates a stall in the market. “There were crowds of people buying, when all of a sudden a pickup truck that had been parked exploded. We’ve requested several times to the police to provide security and bomb detectors, but they never responded.”
The blast blew Mr. Mustafa backward several feet, but witnesses said its impact might have been diminished because the pickup truck had been parked between larger vehicles.
Shop owners said the police in the neighborhood told them Tuesday evening that there were rumors that produce markets would be the targets of attacks on Wednesday.
“We all came as farmers to earn our trade,” said Yahya Mohsen, 55, who was lying in a hospital bed. His stomach had been torn open by shrapnel from the attack. “Why did the police abandon us? There should have been checkpoints. There should have been guards.”
A second bomb inside a car just outside the market was found shortly after the pickup truck exploded and was disarmed by Iraqi security officials, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, a spokesman for Baghdad Operations Command, said in a statement. He said the bomb appeared to have been intended to kill police officers and military personnel responding to the scene.
Wednesday’s bombings followed a bomb attack on Monday in which two cars exploded in a parking lot across the street from the heavily secured Oil Ministry in Baghdad, killing four people and wounding seven, including two police officers.
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