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| At Least 32 Killed as Truck Explodes at Iraqi Market | At Least 32 Killed as Truck Explodes at Iraqi Market |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| BAGHDAD — Explosives hidden under fruit and vegetables aboard a delivery truck detonated in a crowded market selling fresh produce north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 32 civilians and wounding scores a day after a wave of car bombings convulsed the capital, according to medical and police officials. | BAGHDAD — Explosives hidden under fruit and vegetables aboard a delivery truck detonated in a crowded market selling fresh produce north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 32 civilians and wounding scores a day after a wave of car bombings convulsed the capital, according to medical and police officials. |
| The dead from the latest bombing in Saadiya, in Diyala Province, included eight women and six children aged between 8 and 14, the officials said. The driver of the Kia truck asked workers to unload his cargo and then walked away. It exploded shortly afterward. | The dead from the latest bombing in Saadiya, in Diyala Province, included eight women and six children aged between 8 and 14, the officials said. The driver of the Kia truck asked workers to unload his cargo and then walked away. It exploded shortly afterward. |
| “I went with my mother to get some fruit. I don’t know where she is now. I can’t find her,” said an 11-year-old boy who was searching for his mother after he was wounded in the arms and head. The boy gave his name only as Ahmed. The fate of his mother was not known. | “I went with my mother to get some fruit. I don’t know where she is now. I can’t find her,” said an 11-year-old boy who was searching for his mother after he was wounded in the arms and head. The boy gave his name only as Ahmed. The fate of his mother was not known. |
| On Wednesday, also targeting public spaces where Iraqis congregate to shop, a wave of apparently coordinated bombings hit bakeries and public markets in Baghdad killed at least 42 people and wounded more than 90, many of them as they rushed to buy supplies during a break in heavy rainstorms, according to the police, residents and medical officials. | On Wednesday, also targeting public spaces where Iraqis congregate to shop, a wave of apparently coordinated bombings hit bakeries and public markets in Baghdad killed at least 42 people and wounded more than 90, many of them as they rushed to buy supplies during a break in heavy rainstorms, according to the police, residents and medical officials. |
| The attacks, most of them car bombings, targeted Shiites and Sunnis, reflecting the protracted sectarian violence that has spiked since the American withdrawal in 2011 and raising concerns that Iraq is facing levels of strife not seen for years. | The attacks, most of them car bombings, targeted Shiites and Sunnis, reflecting the protracted sectarian violence that has spiked since the American withdrawal in 2011 and raising concerns that Iraq is facing levels of strife not seen for years. |
| In a repeat of Wednesday’s grim toll, bombs exploded in two areas Baghdad. Four soldiers died when a suicide bomber detonated himself at an army checkpoint in the Taji neighborhood, and a car bomb and two improvised explosive devices killed 7 people in Ameriya in western Baghdad. | |
| Meanwhile, a Shiite militia leader in Iraq claimed that his group had fired six rockets into Saudi Arabia to protest the country’s support for Sunni extremists in the region. | |
| The leader, Wathiq al-Bata, said in the interview that “this is just a warning against Saudi Arabia, if they don’t stop supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, we will hit important targets inside their country.” | |
| Another bomb erupted near a bakery where people were buying bread for breakfast, killing five and wounding 13, officials said. In Adhamiya, a mostly Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad, a bomb in a parked car exploded near another bakery, killing three people. | Another bomb erupted near a bakery where people were buying bread for breakfast, killing five and wounding 13, officials said. In Adhamiya, a mostly Sunni neighborhood in northern Baghdad, a bomb in a parked car exploded near another bakery, killing three people. |
| Other car bombs tore through five public markets in other Baghdad neighborhoods, including Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold, killing 22 people. | Other car bombs tore through five public markets in other Baghdad neighborhoods, including Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold, killing 22 people. |
| In the evening, a bomb exploded in a cafe in the Shiite neighborhood of Baya where young people gather to smoke hookahs, killing five youths and wounding 10 others, a police official said. | In the evening, a bomb exploded in a cafe in the Shiite neighborhood of Baya where young people gather to smoke hookahs, killing five youths and wounding 10 others, a police official said. |
| Augmenting the sense of lawlessness, gunmen killed Col. Sruit Hama, the head of security for President Jalal Talabani, in the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya late Tuesday, security officials said. Mr. Talabani, 80, has been in Germany for medical treatment since December after suffering a stroke. Colonel Hama had been planning to fly there on Wednesday to join him. | Augmenting the sense of lawlessness, gunmen killed Col. Sruit Hama, the head of security for President Jalal Talabani, in the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya late Tuesday, security officials said. Mr. Talabani, 80, has been in Germany for medical treatment since December after suffering a stroke. Colonel Hama had been planning to fly there on Wednesday to join him. |
| In a separate episode in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya late Tuesday, Khasim al-Mashhadany, a prominent Sunni cleric, was also shot to death, the officials said. On Thursday, security officials said, unidentified attackers with silenced weapons shot two people to death inside a shop in western Baghdad. The motives behind the killings were unclear. | In a separate episode in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya late Tuesday, Khasim al-Mashhadany, a prominent Sunni cleric, was also shot to death, the officials said. On Thursday, security officials said, unidentified attackers with silenced weapons shot two people to death inside a shop in western Baghdad. The motives behind the killings were unclear. |
| The chaos left by Wednesday’s bombings was compounded by heavy rains and flooding that forced the authorities to declare a public holiday and hampered ambulances trying to reach the sites of the explosions. | The chaos left by Wednesday’s bombings was compounded by heavy rains and flooding that forced the authorities to declare a public holiday and hampered ambulances trying to reach the sites of the explosions. |
| The car bombs went off between 9 and 10:15 a.m., as families shopped between storms. | The car bombs went off between 9 and 10:15 a.m., as families shopped between storms. |
| “I just wanted to get breakfast for my kids,” said Muhsin Muntadhar, 45, who was wounded in his leg and back from an explosion near one of the bakeries. “I never did something bad in my life. What did we do to deserve this? I hope one day I wake up from this nightmare.” | “I just wanted to get breakfast for my kids,” said Muhsin Muntadhar, 45, who was wounded in his leg and back from an explosion near one of the bakeries. “I never did something bad in my life. What did we do to deserve this? I hope one day I wake up from this nightmare.” |
| No group immediately claimed responsibility for the violence, though in the past, the authorities have blamed Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda for similar attacks. | No group immediately claimed responsibility for the violence, though in the past, the authorities have blamed Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda for similar attacks. |
| But some Iraqis trace the growing violence to the civil war in neighboring Syria, which has intensified sectarian divisions between Sunnis supporting rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad and Shiites backing his government. | But some Iraqis trace the growing violence to the civil war in neighboring Syria, which has intensified sectarian divisions between Sunnis supporting rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad and Shiites backing his government. |
| In Iraq, major bombings have become almost routine, pushing the levels of violence to the heights of five years ago, according to the United Nations, and reinforcing fears of the kind of sectarian warfare that seized the country in 2006 and 2007. | In Iraq, major bombings have become almost routine, pushing the levels of violence to the heights of five years ago, according to the United Nations, and reinforcing fears of the kind of sectarian warfare that seized the country in 2006 and 2007. |
| The bloodletting has taken on broader regional overtones, with Shiite backers of Mr. Assad — notably Iran and its ally Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese group — drawn into the conflict, while militant Sunnis, some linked to Al Qaeda, have flocked to the rebel cause in Syria, declaring jihad, or holy war, against their enemies. | The bloodletting has taken on broader regional overtones, with Shiite backers of Mr. Assad — notably Iran and its ally Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese group — drawn into the conflict, while militant Sunnis, some linked to Al Qaeda, have flocked to the rebel cause in Syria, declaring jihad, or holy war, against their enemies. |
| Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, weakened during the final years of the American occupation, has rejuvenated and even expanded into Syria. | Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, weakened during the final years of the American occupation, has rejuvenated and even expanded into Syria. |
| The latest bombings in Baghdad and Saadiya came just days after explosions killed 44 people across Iraq on Sunday, including 20 in a northern Turkmen-dominated city, and wounded more than 100. | The latest bombings in Baghdad and Saadiya came just days after explosions killed 44 people across Iraq on Sunday, including 20 in a northern Turkmen-dominated city, and wounded more than 100. |