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| Baghdad market bomb 'kills 135' | |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| At least 135 people have been killed and 305 injured in a lorry bombing at a market place in central Baghdad, Iraqi security officials have said. | |
| Police say the vehicle blew up in al-Sadriya district as people bought food ahead of a night-time curfew. | Police say the vehicle blew up in al-Sadriya district as people bought food ahead of a night-time curfew. |
| It shattered stalls and left a huge crater in the street, in the heavily populated, predominantly Shia area. | It shattered stalls and left a huge crater in the street, in the heavily populated, predominantly Shia area. |
| Only the Sadr City bombings in November, which killed more than 200 people, have claimed more lives. | Only the Sadr City bombings in November, which killed more than 200 people, have claimed more lives. |
| Regular targets | Regular targets |
| Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki blamed loyalists of the executed former leader Saddam Hussein for the al-Sadriya attack. | Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki blamed loyalists of the executed former leader Saddam Hussein for the al-Sadriya attack. |
| "The Iraqi people and the world is shocked by this... The Saddamists have returned to commit a new crime," he said. | "The Iraqi people and the world is shocked by this... The Saddamists have returned to commit a new crime," he said. |
| Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani In pictures: Iraq violence | Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani In pictures: Iraq violence |
| "We reassure the population that we will put an end to these crimes." | "We reassure the population that we will put an end to these crimes." |
| Maj Gen Jihad al-Jaberi of the interior ministry told state television the lorry was carrying one tonne of explosives that were detonated by a suicide bomber. | Maj Gen Jihad al-Jaberi of the interior ministry told state television the lorry was carrying one tonne of explosives that were detonated by a suicide bomber. |
| Rescuers pulled the dead and injured from the rubble of the blast and loaded them on to pick-up trucks to be ferried to hospital. | Rescuers pulled the dead and injured from the rubble of the blast and loaded them on to pick-up trucks to be ferried to hospital. |
| Wards and corridors overflowed at the nearby Ibn al-Nafis hospital, with relatives screaming for help for their loved ones. | Wards and corridors overflowed at the nearby Ibn al-Nafis hospital, with relatives screaming for help for their loved ones. |
| One injured man at Ibn al-Nafis told Reuters news agency: "I was in my shop and there was a great explosion and the roof fell in on me. I woke up here in hospital." | One injured man at Ibn al-Nafis told Reuters news agency: "I was in my shop and there was a great explosion and the roof fell in on me. I woke up here in hospital." |
| The same market was hit by car bombs on 2 December that killed more than 50 people. | The same market was hit by car bombs on 2 December that killed more than 50 people. |
| Another attack, on the Haraj market in Baghdad on 22 January, killed 88 people. | Another attack, on the Haraj market in Baghdad on 22 January, killed 88 people. |
| BBC world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge says the attacks on markets are widely seen as militant groups deliberately stepping up their activities before a new joint Iraqi-US security operation for Baghdad gets under way. | BBC world affairs correspondent Mike Wooldridge says the attacks on markets are widely seen as militant groups deliberately stepping up their activities before a new joint Iraqi-US security operation for Baghdad gets under way. |
| The US is to deploy an extra 21,500 troops. | The US is to deploy an extra 21,500 troops. |
| Kirkuk attacks | Kirkuk attacks |
| On Saturday, Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a new appeal to all Iraqis. | On Saturday, Iraq's most prominent Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, made a new appeal to all Iraqis. |
| "Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension to avoid stirring sectarian differences," he said. | "Everybody knows the necessity for us to stand together and reject the sectarian tension to avoid stirring sectarian differences," he said. |
| Seven bombs also went off in Kirkuk in the north | Seven bombs also went off in Kirkuk in the north |
| Earlier, seven car bombs in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk killed five people and injured 40. | Earlier, seven car bombs in the ethnically mixed northern city of Kirkuk killed five people and injured 40. |
| Two of the bombs targeted the headquarters of two Kurdish parties - the Kurdish Democratic Party led by of Massoud Barzani, head of the northern Kurdish region, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani. | Two of the bombs targeted the headquarters of two Kurdish parties - the Kurdish Democratic Party led by of Massoud Barzani, head of the northern Kurdish region, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani. |
| Razqar Ali, a Kurdish leader and head of Kirkuk provincial council, accused militants of trying to destabilise the city amid efforts by some Kurds to include it in the autonomous Kurdish region. | Razqar Ali, a Kurdish leader and head of Kirkuk provincial council, accused militants of trying to destabilise the city amid efforts by some Kurds to include it in the autonomous Kurdish region. |
| A curfew was imposed after the blasts and would run from 1600 (1300 GMT) to 0600 on Sunday, AFP news agency said. | A curfew was imposed after the blasts and would run from 1600 (1300 GMT) to 0600 on Sunday, AFP news agency said. |
| Earlier, police said gunmen attacked a checkpoint near Samarra, killing six police and injuring another six. | Earlier, police said gunmen attacked a checkpoint near Samarra, killing six police and injuring another six. |
| Samarra is a mainly Sunni town 125km (80 miles) north of Baghdad where an attack on an important Shia shrine last February sparked Iraq's current sectarian violence. | Samarra is a mainly Sunni town 125km (80 miles) north of Baghdad where an attack on an important Shia shrine last February sparked Iraq's current sectarian violence. |