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Car bomb hits busy Iraqi market Car bomb hits Iraq cattle market
(about 1 hour later)
At least 10 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a bomb blast near a livestock market in Iraq.At least 10 people have been killed and dozens wounded in a bomb blast near a livestock market in Iraq.
A car bomb exploded as people were buying and selling cattle in the busy market near the city of Hilla in Babil province, police said. A car bomb exploded as people were buying and selling cattle in the busy market in Hamza, near the city of Hilla in Babil province, police said.
At least 32 people were reported to have been injured.At least 32 people were reported to have been injured.
Babil province, south of Baghdad, has been the scene of attacks in the past but has been relatively peaceful for many months. Iraq has been hit by a series of attacks in recent weeks, although the level of violence is still much lower than it was, a BBC correspondent says.
The attack happened at around 0900 local time (0600 GMT) as traders gathered at the al-Medhatiaya animal market, some 120km (75 miles) south of Baghdad, the AFP news agency reports. In a separate incident, gunmen in the capital Baghdad shot at an interior ministry general, Salaam Salman, critically wounding him and two bodyguards.
Medical officials in the region confirmed there had been casualties, but the number of injured ranged from 32 to 56. The attack on the crowded cattle market happened at around 0900 local time (0600 GMT) as traders gathered in Hamza, a rural, mainly Shia town some 130km (75 miles) south of Baghdad.
Babil province has a mixed population of Shia and Sunni Muslims and has seen much sectarian violence as well as attacks on US forces. Medical officials in the region confirmed there had been casualties. Reports put the number of injured between 32 and 56.
But violence abated in part because former Sunni rebels joined so-called Awakening Councils and turned against al-Qaeda militants. Several policemen are thought to have been among the casualties.
The US military handed over control of security in Babil to Iraqi forces last October. Past violence
Babil province has a mixed population of Shia and Sunni Muslims and has seen much sectarian violence and attacks on US forces in the past.
But this region has been one of the more peaceful parts of Iraq in recent months, the BBC's Mike Sergeant in Baghdad reports.
Violence abated in Babil partly because former Sunni rebels had joined so-called Awakening Councils and turned against al-Qaeda militants.
The US military handed over control of security in the province to Iraqi forces last October.
Almost every day there is an attack somewhere in the country, although the level of violence remains much lower than in the past, our correspondent says.
Just over 250 Iraqis were killed in February of this year, compared with 3,000 violent deaths reported in February 2007.