A car bomb struck a crowded market in the northern city of Tal Afar on Friday, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens, US and Iraqi officials said.
The attack was the latest in a series of deadly bombings that show militants retain the ability to wage high-profile attacks despite recent security gains, particularly in northern Iraq.
The car was parked when it exploded about 6:30pm inside a food market that was packed with shoppers and vendors peddling fruit and vegetables, police in Tal Afar said.
A local security official said the blast occurred in the Wahda commercial district less than 30 minutes after the expiration of a regular weekly vehicle ban to prevent bombers from targeting weekly Islamic services.
FAILED SEARCH
Iraqi soldiers had searched the car at a checkpoint leading to the market but did not find any explosives, another city official said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release the information, said 21 people were killed and 72 wounded.
The US military confirmed the death toll but said 66 people were wounded, including five Iraqi police officers.
Hussein Ali, a 15-year-old who sells food from a cart in the market, was wounded in the head and one leg.
“I was standing near my cart when I heard a big explosion and I felt as if hell was in front of me. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital receiving treatment,” Ali said from his hospital bed.
Tal Afar, a predominantly Shiite Turkomen city 420km northwest of Baghdad, was the site of another car bombing on July 16. At least 18 people were killed in that attack, including seven children.
The city, which is west of the volatile city of Mosul, was targeted in offensives by US and Iraqi troops that prompted US leaders to describe it as a success story in the effort to stabilize Iraq. But sporadic attacks continue.
Mosul and surrounding areas are the site of ongoing US-Iraqi operations against al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents.
Ethnic tensions also have been rising between Turkomens, Arabs and Kurds in the region as they are locked in a bitter dispute over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
GEORGIA PULLS OUT
Meanwhile, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN that the country was calling home its troops from Iraq amid heavy fighting in its breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Georgia has 2,000 troops serving with the coalition forces in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor after the US and Britain.
In Washington, a senior defense official said Georgian authorities had asked the US for help getting their troops out of Iraq. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions have been private, said no formal decision has been made on whether to support the departure, but said it is likely the US will do so.
Also on Friday, the US military said two Marines died the day before in a non-combat incident in Anbar Province west of Baghdad.
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